I Will Stand Today, Just Watch!
by TroiiB6J9
Summary: Hinata has been disowned and has run away. Now she's dead, or is she? What's Garaa doing here, wait, is that?.....a baby? Will Hinata finally face her father? Or is she actually weak? Garaa doesn't think so. Rated T for a few words and abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am nothing. Please just read my story! I worked really hard.

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I Will Stand Today, Just Watch!!

Hinata Hyuga was terrified. Her father had just requested her prescence today at noon. She had no idea what he could want, she hadn't done anything. At eighteen,most girls would have already been thinking about their futures, but Hinata was unable to think about anything other than day to day. She supposed she should be thinking of ways to help her clan when she would eventually take over, but the thought terrified her. So she simply avoided it.

When Hinata entered her father's prescence, she avoided his gaze while she took her position in front of him. Hiashi eyed her critically, Hinata tried to act as if she wasn't terrified, but her trembling gave her away.  
"Hinata, how old are you," asked her father thoughtfully.  
Hinata was startled, she hadn't expected this, "Well, I S..S..Suppose I..I.. am eighteen." Damn that stutter, even at eighteen she still couldn't speak right.  
Hiashi's eyes narrowed,"You suppose your eighteen, well, are you, or aren't you?"  
Hinata quaked under his glare, "Y..Y..Yes, I..I.. am eighteen."  
Hiashi's eyes narrowed even more, "Speak sraight, Dammit!!" he snarled, then be-  
-fore she could even react, he struck Hinata across the face. Tears sprang to Hinta's eyes, "I am s..sorry," she mumbled, praying he didn't hit her again. "Hmph," said Hiashi, "Hinata, what have you ever contributed to the clan?"  
Hinata looked up, surprised, unshed tears shining in her eyes, "W..what d..do you mean?"  
"I mean," growled Hiashi, "What have you ever done to deserve this life, a good ho-  
-me, good food, life without fear, what have you done to repay this clan for all those things, hmm?"  
Hinata stared at him, stunned. "I..I..What"  
"What, did you think you would get all those things simply by being born into the clan? Ha!! Hinata you are too naive, you'd never make it as a ninja. That is why I am disowning you, and banishing you from our clan."  
Hinata gaped, this was a dream, it had to be. "But w..w.who will l..lead the clan?"  
she stammered.  
"I believe your sister, Hanabi, will be more than an adequate replecement, don't you agree?"  
This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't, Hinata knew Hiashi disliked her, but he wouldn't simply throw her out, would he?  
"But..But y..you c..can't j..just throw m..me out, I mean I'm y..your d..daughter."Hinata tried desperately.  
Hiashi's eyes filled with fury, "You are no daughter of mine," he bellowed, then he smacked her as hard as he could across the face.  
**Crack!!** Hinata felt pain explode across her face, and she knew her nose was broken. She staggered, then looked at Hiashi, eyes full of tears, blood flowing down her face. "I Hate You!!!" she shouted then spun on her heel, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.  
Hinata didn't care who saw her as she ran down the halls of her home, passing Neji,who caught a glimpse of her tear stained, blood crusted face, and was horrified.  
"Hinata, hey, Hinata," he shouted after her, but she kept running, barefooted, out the door of her family's huge two story home, through the village, past horrified villagers, and to the gates of the village. She tore through them and into the dense,  
forested paths. She kept running, ignoring the searing pain in her legs, ignoring her body as it cried out for rest, ignoring everything around her, she kept running as far as she could, away from that horrible village. All of a sudden she slammed into a large, something, it was too dark to tell what it was. Hinata was scared, "Who are you," she said trying to sound brave, but then all of a sudden, her body remembered the physical strain it had been under, and Hinata fainted.  
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**Four Years Later...**

"Neji, how do you think Hanabi will perform," asked Hiashi of his nephew.  
Neji had to bite back hard to keep from telling that man he didn't care, and to stick it where the sun don't shine. Neji had never forgiven Hiashi for sending Hinata to her death. After that day so many years ago Neji had searched tirelessly for her,  
but all the search dogs were able to find was a huge dried puddle of blood.  
All the dogs were able to confirm was that it was her blood, and that was where the scent vanished. No trace of her anywhere else. None. Neji was devastated, he and Hinata had only just started to get along, and she was gone. Neji hated Hiashi with all of his heart again. Hanabi was 15 and taking the Chuniin exams for the first time. Her teacher had held her back from the exams until she was fully prepared.  
She had passed the first two parts of the exam without trouble, now it was the part where she'd had a month to train and she was here to show off her competence as a ninja. Hiashi wasn't worried, after all this was his hand chosen heir, not that weakling, Hinata.  
He and Neji took their seats. Neji was only here because, due to the tradition of the main and branch families, all he was allowed to be was a bodyguard. After Hanabi had started to get more adventerous, Neji had been assigned to guard her.  
As much as Neji despised her father, he couldn't hate Hanabi, after all she missed Hinata too. Neji watched idily as Hanabi and the other candidates lined up.  
Then the candidates filed out and the proctor began to explain the rules, but then all of a sudden there was a blast of hot wind. A huge vortex of sand formed in the center of the arena. Then none other than the famed youngest Kazekage in history stepped out of the vortex. Garaa shook his flaming red crown, dislodging any sand caught in it.  
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Tsunade, where she was sitting, smirked an all knowing smirk,"And so it begins"  
she smirked. "This is gonna be fun"  
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Garaa looked fantastic, his clothes were different, he wore headband around his neck now, the dark bags under his eyes had lessened, and he was holding a mass of silk in the crook of his left arm. He cast a glance around, and all of a sudden the sand around him swirled and all of a sudden everyone could see him as if they were right next to him. He glanced around again, and then his eyes locked on one person, "Hiashi..." he growled. Everyone was surprised, they could hear him perfectly.  
"What do you want with me," said Hiashi standing up, crossing his arms as he did so.  
All of a sudden Garaa smiled a very, almost evil smile, but it was more annoying, than anything else. "I simply wish to congratulate you," he said eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth.  
"Congratulate me? I wasn't aware there was anything to celebrate," said Hiashi suspiciously.  
Garaa smiled again, then slowly reached down to the top of the bundle of silk, and ripped the top sheet away. Everyone stared, some people went "Awwww..", and Hiashi simply narrowed his eyes. What greeted them was a sleeping baby with flaming red hair, exactly like the man's who was holding it. But then the baby opened it's eyes, and everyone gasped. The baby had beautiful, pupiless eyes with a tint of purple. Beautiful, haunting, and familiar.  
Neji gasped, Hanabi simply gaped, and even Hiashi took an invoulentary step back.  
Garaa smirked. Just what he'd expected. "Well I'd say the birth of your first grandchild is something worthy of congratulations, wouldn't you say, Hiashi?"  
At the sound of his name, Hiashi was jarred out of his stunned silence, "No woman in my clan has given birth, let alone one of my children, that child is of no relation to me." he stated almost matter of factly.  
"Oh, well that's not fair, what about,...Hinata..." asked Garaa almost innocently.  
Neji was on his feet in an instant, "She's alive, Hinata's alive," he asked desperately.  
"Alive and well, no thanks to you Hiashi, don't think she didn't tell me what you did to her, count yourself lucky she changed me, otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to tear you limb from limb." said Garaa smoothly  
"Why are you here," asked Hiashi, changing the subject. He was honestly somewhat scared, he knew this boy could shred him like paper.  
"Oh, well I am simply here to inform you that your attempt to destroy Hinata failed,  
and that your precious Hyuga blood now flows through the veins of my daugher, Hinara. I am also here to inform you, a bit belatedly, I must admit, that I married Hinata, and she is now one of the strongest ninja in my village, as well as the honored and respected wife of the Kazekage. More than you ever thought possible of her, I'm sure." stated Garaa, with a matter-of-fact smirk on his face.  
Hiashi glared at him with pure venom, "That little mutt is no Hyuga, no matter what she might look like," he spat.  
Garaa's eyes widened and fury distorted his features, "I'll make you sorry you ever said that," he snarled, lifting his hand, the sand leaped eagerly up at the thought of a kill, the first in years. Just as the sand was flying forward, Hinara, who'd been very still, reached up one little hand and placed it on her fathers chest. The sand stopped dead, Garaa froze, then he looked at Hinara, she smiled and cooed at him.  
Garaa stared at her blankly, then his face broke out in a smile of fatherly love. She giggled happily, and buried her face in his shirt.  
Garaa returned his eyes to Hiashi, and hissed, "There won't always be someone to protect you from me, and when that day comes, I will tear you apart."  
Then he turned away and started to whip the sand around himself. "Wait, hey wait,please can I come with you, please?" Hanabi nimbly climbed the dividing bar, and jumped into the arena, and raced to Garaa's side. "Why would you wish to accompany me?" asked Garaa, tilting his head slightly.  
Hanabi looked directly into the eyes of the feared Kazekage, took a deep breath,  
"Hinata is my sister, I miss her and wish to see her," she stated, keepeing her voice level.  
Garaa studied her critically, "Very well, Hinata has wished to know how you are anyway, you may come"  
Then he extended his right hand to her. "Wait, you're not going anywhere without me," Neji shouted, then he leaped from his seat to the safety bar, where he perched precarioussly, "I wish to go as well."  
Garaa looked at him pierceingly,"If that is your wish I will not stop you."  
Then he turned away and the vortex spun up again, Neji jumped down and came to his side.  
"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, HANABI, ANSWER ME!?"  
Hiashi bellowed furiously.  
Hanabi spun, her fury equalling his, "I AM GOING TO SEE MY SISTER, HINATA,AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!" she screamed.  
"OH NO YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE GOING TO FINISH YOUR EXAM, AND THAT'S FINAL, YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME, YOU'RE MY DAUGHTER, YOU WILL OBEY ME!!!" he roared.  
"I HATE YOU!! DON'T YOU GET IT, I HATE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO OUR FAMILY, YOU BANISHED YOUR OWN DAUGHTER, I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!!! GO STICK IT UP YOUR POMPOUS ASS, YOU ASS." she shrieked in fury.  
Then she spun and grabbed Garaa's arm. Garaa regarded her curiously, then reached over and grabbed an astonished Neji by the collar and threw him into the vortex, then he pulled the silk over Hinara's head again, pulled Hanabi closer and plunged into the vortex with one final wave at Hiashi.  
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Flying through the sand vortex jutsu was one of the weirdest experiences of Hanabi's life. It was like flying through water, but it tickled all over, the sand was incredibly hot, but not hot enough to burn, but it constantly danced on that edge, it felt like a blanket was over her head, but she knew if she tried to breathe she would have no trouble. It seemed to drag on forever, Hanabi felt like she would explode. Then,suddenly, it was over. Hanbi stepped out onto the sand of the land of Suna. She stared around in amazement. There was sand everywhere, the buildings rose like sentries above the ground, and the sun shone down, almost harshly. She glanced around and saw Neji on his hands and knees, she was immediately on alert, then she noticed that he was not, in fact, hurt, he was puking his guts out. Hanabi couln't surpress a giggle, Neji glared at her in between wretches. "What happened?"she asked in between giggles.  
"Sometimes, when a person goes through the sand vortex jutsu, they experiece a slight touch of motion sickness," said Garaa from behind her, "It's nothing to worry about though, it's not dangerous, just unpleasent."  
Hanabi lost it at this point, she ducked into a nearby alley and laughed until she cried. Then after regaining her composure, she rejoined the group. They then proceeded through the village of Suna, Hanabi could easily see what her sister saw in this place, there were beautiful desert lillies everywhere, the sand blew softly against her legs, the sun wasn't really harsh, just very warm and inviting, there were children playing all around, they smiled and called out to Garaa, there were women gathered around a fountain in the center of the village gossiping and trading stories,they also called out to Garaa, saying they were glad to see him, and to say hello to Hinata, the whole place was alive with people. Hanabi loved it. Then at the edge of the village there was a huge house, more like palace actually. Garaa simply entered the house, not even pausing. Hanabi trailed after him, supporting a pale, sick Neji. "Oh Lord Kazekage, welcome home, I hope your journey was well?" asked a smiling young maid with bright yellow hair, bowing slightly.  
"Shirak, I have told you that you may adress me as Garaa, you don't have to call me kazekage." said Garaa, annoyed.  
Shirak giggled as a response, and bowed out. Garaa sighed, and headed down the grand hallway. After winding their way through a maze of hallways, they came to a large hallway with a door that led to a courtyard.Garaa headed towards the courtyard, Hanabi and Neji followed. In the middle of the courtyard sat a woman, with her back to them, she had long, shiny black hair, and a slim, graceful figure. She was humming to herself, and busily working on something they couldn't see. Garaa stepped into the courtyard and cleared his throat. The woman spun around and her face lit up, "Garaa, you're home, I'm so glad," said, none other than Hinata Hyuga.  
She rushed over to hold him. Then she noticed Neji and Hanabi, "Hanabi, Neji, oh I'm so glad to see you!!" she cried, rushing over to throw her arms around them, "Oh,I've missed you so much, how are you, Neji what's wrong, oh ,Hanabi, look how tall you've gotten, how did you get here, what's going on, is everything okay?" she asked excitedly, looking overjoyed, elated, worried, amazed, happy, and scared all at once. Hanabi laughed at her sisters twittering,"Oh, everything's fine I suppose, but I've missed you, where have you been, why didn't you even send a letter, I was worried, how did you end up marrying the Kazekage, when was Hinara born, oh, sh-  
-e's so cute! What is she like, how did you get here, what's it like being royalty, oh,  
I've missed you so much!!" Hanabi said all in one breath. It was Hinata's turn to laugh.  
"I'm sure we'll have time to talk, but Neji, you look terrible, we should take care of that," she said with a smile. Then she reached up, and her hand glowed blue with chakra, and she placed it on Neji's sweating forehead, immediately, his pain vanshed. He looked better already. "Wow, Hinata, how'd you do that?" asked Hanabi, impressed. Hinata simply smiled, "C'mon, let's go and have some nice 'girl talk' 'kay," said Hinata, smiling at her sister again. They both departed again after Hinata had taken a very tired Hinara from Garaa, and went to put her down for a nap. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How did you find Hinata?" asked Neji as he and Garaa sat down for some tea, brought by strange servants wearing long robes.  
"I was returning from a confrence with a lord in the west and I was taking a shortcut through the forests surrounding the Village Hidden in the leaves, as I walking along something ran into me, I was going to kill whatever it was, then it spoke to me, it asked me who I was and what I wanted. I was surprised, to say the least, and I don't know what made me not kill her, for it was Hinata, but for some reason, I used my sand to transport her to Suna, where I helped nurse her back to health. I don't know how it happened, but when I was nursing her, I fell in love with her, I hadn't even spoken to her and I knew I loved her, so when she first awoke, I was next to her bed, waiting.  
The first thing she did when she awoke was take one look at me, and scream." Garra smiled at this point,"Then Temari came tearing in, and screamed at me for an hour and a half about taking advantage of innocent girls, and how I was terrible, and how she was disgusted to be related to me, after I was trying to take advantage of this poor girl. All in all I was terrified, she's scary when she's mad." He stopped, thinking no doubt, about his sister when she had yelled at him. "Of course Hinata stepped in at this point, and explained that I hadn't done anything,it wasn't my fault, she was just scared, she'd just been kicked out of her home, and she was just jumpy. I think she realized, while Temari was yelling at me, that I was a different person from the one she saw at the Chuunin exams. Then Temari said OK and, at Hinata's request she left us alone. I began to speak to Hinata, she asked where she was, how she got here, and why I was by her side when she woke up. Well the first questions were easy, but the last one, well I didn't know what to say, so I just told her the truth, I loved her, and I wanted nothing more than to spend my life at her side, even if she hated me. Well she was very surprised and I think she had no idea what to say, so she asked me if I really meant it. Yes I did mean it, so then she said if I loved her, I would let her stay in the village, because her father had disowned her,and she could never go back. I didn't know how I could be happier, but I still loved her so I told her she could stay with me, in my home, until she was completely recovered,I told her after that, if she still wanted to stay,I would set her up with an apartment." said Garaa, thinking some more.  
"Ah, well that's how she got here, but how'd she fall in love with_ you_, no offense meant" said Neji.  
"Well, I suppose it had something to do with me telling her right off the bat that I loved her, then as she lived in my home and I trained her as a medical ninja, we grew closer, and we fell in love, or she did, I loved her all along, about two years after she came here we got married, about a year later, we found out we were pregnant, Hinata was ecstatic, I swear, it took all I had just to keep her from overdoing it and trying to tell every person in the village personally, then nine months later, Hinara was born, then I waited until Hinara was seven months old, then I came to your village to tell everyone that Hinata was alive, and to tell Hiashi his attempt to kill Hinata failed," said Garaa matter-of-factly.  
"Hmmm... Well I'm glad Hinata's okay," said Neji sipping his tea, then he gagged,"Oh yuk, what **is** this!? This is _nasty_!"  
Garaa smiled,"It's made from a kind of ginger that only grows here in Suna." he said,  
watching Neji with an amused smile playing around his mouth.

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If you review and you tell me you want more I'll add it, but if not, well it's the end, sorry. Please tell me what I could do better, I need to get better.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am and never will be nothing. I just hope you like my story.

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I will stand today, Just watch!! chapt.2

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Hiashi was straight up furious. How dare they! How dare Neji! How dare Hanabi! And Hinata, how dare she survive! She had passed on the Hyuga blood, to that..., to that Curr! He stormed back and forth in the tea room in the Hyuga compound. The exams had been postponed indefinately, due to what Hiashi called, kidnapp, of one of the candidates.

"How dare she! How dare that wretch come back from the dead, and turn my own daughter against me!"he raved furiously to himself.

"Hiashi, come and sit, drink, this tea is excellant," said Lady Tsunade mildly from where she was seated on a cushion daintily sipping tea.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" he snapped furiously,"You knew she was alive, didn't you?! Don't lie to me!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Tsunade mildly,"Really, Hiashi, try this tea, it's fabulous."

"To hell with the damn tea!" shouted Hiashi, slapping the porceline cup from Tsunade's hand.

In an instant Tsunade's cool demeanor was gone, Hiashi, before he could even blink, had a kunai at his throat, and a very angry woman holding one of his arms behind his back. "Don't forget who I am Hiashi," she hissed," I may look harmless, but I don't take well to being pushed around, so if you don't want to lose this arm, I suggest you rethink everything you just did, and see if you can't come up with the thing you did wrong."

Hiashi gave a noise that was a kind of a cross with a grunt and a squeak.

"Good," said Tsunade, releasing him.

Hiashi shot daggers with his eyes, but backed away slowly, and gave a jerkish bow.

"That's better,"smirked Tsunade,"So, what do you want to know about Hinata's life since she vanished four years ago?"

Hiashi snorted,"Well I suppose if I ever want to get Hanabi back into this village, you'd better tell me all of it."

"Well, it's good to see you care about Hinata," said Tsunade.

"I don't give a damn about that girl! I banished her four years ago for a good reason, I only want to get her here because Hanabi won't come otherwise, once Hanabi's back here I'm going to lock her in her room until the day she turns eighteen."hissed Hiashi.

"So, I take it that you don't give a damn about the fact that both of your daughters hate you?" asked Tsunade with a smirk.

Hiashi paused for a second, Did he feel bad that his daughters hated him? He honestly couldn't say. He didn't care about Hinata, she was dead to him, but what about Hanabi? And Neji?

He didn't know what to think.

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**TWO HOURS LATER...**

Tsunade sat at her desk, staring at all the paperwork she was trying to avoid doing. Maybe Shizune could do it... She sighed and straightend from her prone position, she was exhausted, she had just finished explaining everything that had happened to Hinata after she had left the village on that day so many years ago...

_"Dear Lady Tsunade,_

_Don't be alarmed, I am unharmed, I know that Neji will have no doubt been searching for me,_

_I don't want him to have to keep searching, but I beg of you not to tell anyone I am alive,_

_I am going to live in the village of Suna from now on, don't worry I have already gotten permission from the Kazekage,_

_I hope that everyone is be better off without me,_

_Sincerely,_

_Hinata Hyuga"_

Tsunade could honestly say she was relieved to reccieve the letter, she had sent her permission and pardon from the Village, also she had included a personal letter,

_"Dear Hinata,_

_I am grateful that you are unharmed, I apologize for what Hiashi did to you, no father should act that way,_

_I also promise to not to tell Neji, if that is what you wish, but only under one condition,_

_you must write to me every month with updates, I want to know what you're doing,_

_plus, anything is more interesting than this place, I don't know why I accepted this job, I swear, I could burn the village with all the paperwork I have to do!_

_Well, I'll be hearing from you, say Hi to that crazy moron called Kazekage, 'kay?_

_Sincerely,_

_Lady Tsunade_

The next few letter were boring, just updates on Suna, but at least it gave Tsunade something to do, she honestly was bored out of her brains. The next few letters though had been a lot more interesting, and the had continued all throughout Hinata's and Garaa's relationship. Tsunade knew it all, Hinta had held nothing back in her letters, everything, including when she was falling in love, when she got engaged, when she got pregenant, that one had stood out especially, and when she she completed her training in Suna, and when she had given birth to Hinara. She had included a picture with that one, one of her, Garaa, and Hinara, all together for the first time. One letter though, had stood above the rest in Tsunade's mind, it wasn't anything big, but it was significant to Tsunade...

"_Dear Tsunade,_ (she had dropped the 'Lady' long ago)

_How are you?, I am very well myself, but a bit confused, I was hoping you could clear something up for me,_

_a few weeks ago, Garaa was late coming home for a special dinner he'd promised we'd have, I was heartbroken,_

_He was truly sorry though, so I forgave him, but a few days later, during a lesson I was teaching to the young ninja in training, __he showed up, carrying a huge scroll, (I wish you could have seen it! It was bigger than he was, it was so amusing to watch him try to walk!) but, he brought the scroll over to me after I was finished teaching, he told me to sign my name in my own blood in the middle of the scroll, he told me that by doing this, my heart would never be hurt by him again, I asked him what he meant, but he wouldn't tell me! Can you believe that! I told him I wouldn't sign it unless he told me what it was, then he got relly upset, I thought he was going to start crying, so I asked him if it was really important to him, and he said yes, so I signed it, but I still don't know what it is. I managed to figure out some of what it said on the side, but it makes no sense, could you tell me what it means, 'Tew Sera Cerefer quoi Du Intu Lih Yo Du Ichi Ra', do you have any idea what that means?_

_Well, that's all that's happened to me, so,_

_Sincerely,_

_Hinata Hyuga"_

Tsunade had been astounded when she read this, that kid, Garaa, he'd done that?! She was amazed, maybe he really was changing, she wrote back to Hinata to say...

_"Dear Hinata,_

_I am glad that you are well, I'm fine, and the whole village is just peachey! Really!_

_I was surprised when you wrote to tell me about what Garaa did,_

_don't worry, it's not bad. The scroll you saw was the ancient Promise Scroll of the Suna village._

_A scroll that is only used when one or both of the people in a marriage are totally committed to one another,_

_they sign their names in blood and whoever signs the paper, their spouse is now forever bound to them, but_

_the decision to sign rests with both people in the marriage, now I imagine Garaa didn't sign his own name,_

_which means he doesn't want you bound to him forever, I know that sounds bad, but don't freak out, it's actually a_

_good thing, it just means he doesn't want you to make a silly promise and be forced to keep it._

_That is the purpose of the scroll, when you signed your name on that scroll, Garaa was pledging his love for you, because now, __that scroll prevents him from ever breaking a promise to you, ever, or until the day he dies. He wants to show you that he won't ever hurt you by breaking a promise ever again, it's kind of sweet really, don't be to hard on the guy, from what you tell me, he's like a lovestruck puppy when it comes to you._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade"_

She remembered the letter she recieved back, from Garaa, no less.

_"Dear Lady Tsunade,_

_Why'd you have to tell Hinata what that scroll was for?!_

_She tried to almost kill me!_

_If I hadn't ducked, that teapot would have killed me!_

_I didn't tell her because I knew she would freak, and want me to take it back, or to at least sign the paper myself._

_She said she didn't want me to** HAVE** to do everything I promised her, otherwise, well, I don't know, we didn't get_

_that far, I kind of caught her off guard right in the middle of the argument with a kiss, she was still mad though, I managed to_

_talk her down, and explain that I didn't want to hurt her anymore by breaking something as important as a promise,_

_and, well, she started to cry, and somehow, she ended up in my arms. But still, can you not do that again?!_

_Sorry to bother you._

_Sincerely,_

_The Lord Kazekage,_

_Garaa_

Tsunade had laughed for an hour after she got that letter. The famed Lord Kazekage! The feared Lord Kazekage! What a joke, that guy had lost his sanity and his heart to a shy kunoichi named Hinata!

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Again, I have no idea! This one of my first Fanfics, please tell me if you want more, and I want you to please tell me if there is anything I can do better! I want to write things people like, so please, tell me what I should do better! Oh, and sorry it took so long to update!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am and have always been nothing! I'm Planning to stay that way!

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"Hinata, tell me, what IS it like to be royalty?" Hanabi asked of Hinata as they sat in a different and shaded courtyard.

"I'm not royalty." said Hinata as she watched Hanabi as she perched in a tree.

"Oh please! You have servants to wait on you, everybody calls you Lady Hinata, and your daughter is like a princess! That's close enough to royalty! Come on, I'll never get this close to being royalty, all I'll have is a house filled with people wanting me to make descisions about stuff I don't know or care about." Hanabi said, becoming sober at the thought of being head of the clan.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any idea what to tell you. I mean people do wait on me, but I do a lot of stuff myself, and their not really MY servants, their Garaa's servants, I just happen to be Garaa's wife, so I don't know what to tell you." said Hinata staring blankly into space, thinking.

"Oh come on! Something must be fun!" said Hanabi swinging her legs around and hopping down from the tree, coming to sit next to Hinata.

"Well..."said Hinata a slow smile spreading across her face,"I suppose it_ is_ kind of fun to tell the servants to do something crazy! I remember there was this one time, when I was pregnant with Hinara, when I sent Shirak out in the dead of the night to get me a puppy, I remember, she looked at me like I was crazy, she asked Garaa if she really had to go get me a puppy, he freaked out, started shouting that if I wanted a puppy, she was going to find the best damn puppy in the village, and that she wouldn't be coming back until she had a puppy!"

Hanabi burst out laughing,"You sent that poor girl out in the middle of the night, to find you a puppy?! What the _**HELL**_ is wrong with you?! What did you want with a puppy,at midnight?!" She was practically dying of laughter.

"Well, I was just thinking about what my baby's life would be like, and well, I remembered Old Tsuk, remember him, he was our mother's dog, maybe you were too young, but he was one of my best friends when I was a baby, he was always watching out for me. He even saved my life once, I almost fell into that godforsaken Hakurai River when I was just learning to walk, he caught me before I fell in. Well, I wanted my baby to have a dog like that, like Tsuk, so I sent Shirak to find one." said Hinata in her own defense.

"Oh. Well, I didn't know you had such a good reason," Said Hanabi,"I didn't know our mother had a dog."

"He died a little while after you were born. I was really upset." said Hinata sadly, then she perked up,"You know I don't think even Garaa knew I had a good reason for wanting a puppy at midnight, but he sent Shirak to find one anyway, it was so cool, he's a great husband."

"He sounds like it, so did Shirak find you a dog or what?" asked Hanabi, looking at Hinata sideways.

"Yup, she found me the best possible puppy a baby could want.Here, let me show you," said Hinata, she placed her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle.

Almost immediately a sound of scratching and scrabbling of nails on wood, and the tinkling sound of dog tags, was heard coming down the hall outside of the courtyard, and a dog, more like a half grown puppy, came flying into the courtyard with a whole lot of enthusiasm, he rocketed towards them, his floppy ears bouncing along, his paws flying, he launched himself at Hinata, he was about the size of sheltie, with paws the size of a hand, promising he would get bigger, he bowled Hinata over, licking her face and hands, and all over, squirming with obvious excitement, and wimpering with excitement.

"Happy, Happy, Happy stop it! Happy!" said Hinata, laughing and trying to shield her face from the puppy.

Hanabi watched with intrest,"What did you call him?" she asked Hinata, after the puppy had been pushed off.

"Happy. His name is Happy." she said sitting up, trying to clean the saliva off her face.

"Why'd you name him Happy?" asked Hanabi, scratching Happy's ears, he wimpered happily.

"Take a wild guess," said Hinata.

"Because he's always happy?" guessed Hanbi.

"Yup," said Hinata,"He's always so excited to meet new people, we call him Happy."

"That's cool. Oh, who's a good boy!? Oh, who has the cutest, floppy, ears!? Who has the prettiest spotted black coat?! You, do! Yes, you do! Yes, you do!" said Hanabi, speaking directly to Happy, scratching him under the chin.

"That's kinda scary." said Hinata, watching Hanabi sideways.

"Whatever, he's so cute!" said Hanabi

"Yeah, whatever, so what's going on in the village? How's everybody?" asked Hinata,"Tsunade never told me much."

"Oh, well, everyone's fine. I guess. Sakura is the chief of the medical ninjas corp., Naruto, well, he's still Naruto, Tenten and Lee are madly in love, I know it's gross right?Saskue, well, he's just gettin' by, ya' know, day to day, Kiba and Shino both joined Anbu black ops, along with Choji, Ino married Shikamaru, never gonna understnd how_ **THAT**_ happened, Kurenai married Asuma, that surprised everyone, especially when they eloped, Kakashi, well, he's still a pain in the ass, he's my Sensei, can you believe that? He is really conservative when it comes to my training though, ya' know, after the disaster that was team seven. Iruka Sensei, remember him from the accadamy? He's still teaching, except he's a Jonnin now, can you believe that?! And Sai, well I have no idea, he's not really one of the people I keep track of, ya' know?" Hanabi informed Hinata.

"Wow! That's a lot. I never would have guessed all that could happen." said Hinata, petting Happy's head as it rested in her lap.

"Yeah, we've all missed you though,"said Hanabi quietly.

"I didn't want everyone to be sad I was gone," said Hinata staring at her lap.

"Well, we did. Hey, are you coming back to the village with us? Ya' know for a visit? I'd never expect you to leave this place and move back, but you could come and visit, right?"asked Hanabi, gazing at her sister with imploring eyes.

Hinata stayed silent, still staring at her hands,"I.. Don't...Know..,"she said haltingly,"I don't know if I'm ready to go back."

"Oh,"said Hanabi,crestfallen,"Well, just think about it, 'kay? Everyone would love to see you."

"Yeah, okay, I'll think about it," said Hinata, still staring at her hands sadly.

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LATER THAT NIGHT...

"Hinata? What's wrong?" asked Garaa as he stepped into Hinara's room that adjoined his and Hinata's, looking at his wife where she stood holding Hinara's sleeping form in her arms.

She jumped slightly, but not ehough to wake Hinara,"Oh, Garaa, what are you doing up?"

"I was looking for you. Now, what's wrong?" he repeated.

"It's nothing." said Hinata avoiding his gaze.

"It's not nothing, whatever it is, it's bothering you. So, what is it?" he repeated, coming over and cupping her face in his hands, looking deep into her eyes, searching her soul the way only he could. Hinata knew it was end, she could never keep anything from him, it was part of the reason she loved him so much.

"It's..just... Hanabi asked me to return to the village with her,"said Hinata, not looking into his eyes, choosing instead to stare at a point on his chest.

Hinata didn't see, but Garaa's eyes flashed with something indistingushiable, then they returned to normal.

"Why?" he asked calmly, letting his hand rest reassuringly on her shoulder.

"I don't know. For a visit I suppose, only..." she sighed.

"Only...What?" asked Garaa quietly.

She looked back into his beautiful aquamarine eyes,"I don't know if I can go back and face him." she said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

He looked at her, his face sad, then pulled her into his arms. She let her face rest into his shoulder, then she began to cry, she couldn't help it.

"I don't know if I have enough in me to go back and face him. To face all of them, they all thought I was dead this whole time while I've been here, living a perfect life.God!! What do they think of me now!" sobbed Hinata.

Garaa held her in his strong arms and let her cry, he knew she needed to let it out before she heard what he had to say.

"Shhh..It's alright..everything's gonna be okay...it's alright...Shhhhh..."he mumbled soothingly to her stroking her hair softly.

"I'm s..so s..s..sorry, y..you m..must think I'm s..so weak,"stuttered Hinata.

Then she felt Garaa stiffen, he pulled her away from him and looked at her, Hinata was surprised, he looked, angry,"I'd never,_**NEVER **_think you're weak. Don't ever say that! You're _NOT _weak! You're one of the, if not the strongest people I know! I don't want you to _EVER_ say that again! _**NEVER!**_ Hinata, I love you more than anything, I'll never let anything happen to you, not if I have anything to say about it! I love you the way you are, and you are not weak!!" he said, giving her a light shake, looking into her eyes, his own blazing.

She looked at him, very surprised, that was another thing she loved about him, just when she thought she had him figured him out, he would go and be completely different, and yet he always loved her.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes clearing,"I..I just needed to get that off my chest,thank you." She said the last part of the sentence in a whisper.

"It's okay,"said Garaa, his face softening,"Hey, Hinata, I'm going to tell you something someone very dear to me once told me, Yashamaru once told me that it wasn't wrong to run from your fears, or from anything you couldn't face. But, he told me, if you _do_ run away, remember, your fears aren't going anywhere, so you can run away as much as you need to, but someday, somehow, some way, you have to go back and face your fears. So, it's alright for you run, get your breath, gather your bearings, as long as you come back someday and take your fears head on."

Hinata looked into his eyes, and smiled, she leaned her forehead against his chest,"I understand. You're right, you usually are, I need to go back and take my fears on." she said.

"Yes, but you don't have to do it alone. I promised you once, do you remember, I promised you that you'd never have to do anything alone as long as I'm here." he said, looping an arm around her waist, and reaching down to tickle baby Hinara's little stomache, smiling as she giggled.

Hinata couldn't help smiling at Garaa, he was so different when no one was watching, she loved these moments, when Garaa was free and and loving with his emotions, especially towards her and Hinara. She smiled thinking back to that day, it seemed like such a short time ago, and yet so much had happened, all of it had been amazing...

_Garaa's hands were sweating, his knees shaking, his arms felt like lead, his stomache was flopping and twisting over and over again. __"Kankuro, hey, Kankuro, is it normal to feel like you're going to fall down, and you want to puke?" asked Garaa, chewing his lip, a habit he detested, but he couldn't stop._

_"What? Oh, yeah it's totally normal to be nervous man! It's your wedding day! Of course you're nervous, who wouldn't be?" said Kankuro, smiling at Garaa's obvious unwillingness to admit he was nervous._

_"I don't get nervous." said Garaa, still chewing his lip._

_"Not even when you proposed? And, jeez, stop chewing your lips, do you want them to be all bloody when you kiss Hinata?" said Kankuro._

_"I wasn't nervous when I proposed because I didn't honestly think she'd say yes. I mean I'm not the best guy someone would want to be married to, and now that she has said yes, well, I'm...I'm terrified. What if she leaves me at the altar?"asked Garaa, terror painting his features._

_"She's not gonna leave you. Jeez, man lighten' up, it's your wedding day. Be happy! Today Hinata becomes all your's and two can be happily married, and have ten kids, all of them will be little snotnoses, I'm mean, little angels."teased Kankuro._

_"That's NOT funny!"said Garaa, no doubt thinking about having ten kids, he shuddered,"I do** not** want ten kids!"_

_"Hey, look, here she comes," whispered Kankuro, looking past Garaa's shoulder._

_Garra turned, and felt his heart stop, Hinata looked gorgeous. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, beautiful lillies braided into it, she wore a beautiful, simple white silk kimono with a pattern of light lavendar flowers on it, she wasn't wearing any shoes, as was the custom in Suna, her feet brushed across the beautiful emerald grass that grew only in the spring, she was holding a simple boquet of white roses, tied with a ribbon. She had a simple white veil in her hair, her whole face radiated beauty. She wore no makeup, she didn't need it, her eyes shone like diamonds, her lips were beautiful and full, her face seemed to be stuck in a permanent blushing loop, she was smiling as if this was the best thing to ever happen to her. She was like a bright star in the heavens, she walked up the steps to the altar, and stopped directly opposite from Garaa._

_Garaa and Hinata had prepared their own vows and Garaa had spent weeks memorizing his, going over the with Temari and Kankuro so many times that they refused to help him anymore, so he practiced by himself. But as soon as he looked at Hinata, he forgot everything he had memorized, the vows were gone, out of his head, not to be found._

_**'This is bad,'** he thought, looking at her, what was he supposed to say? **'Well,'** he decided,**'I'll just have to wing it.'** He thought back to a time when Yashamaru had told him that when you are speaking to someone you love, you never say the wrong thing, not when it REALLY counts. He decided to see if it was true._

_It was his turn to say his vows, he was speaking first,**'Well here goes, everything.'** he thought. __"Hinata," he croaked, he swallowed, clearing his throat, he tried again,"Hinata, I love you more than anything in this whole world, I'm glad that you agreed to share your life with me, I will work everyday to show you that I am deseving of your love and your heart. I just wanted you to know, that from this day forward, you will never have to do anything alone and by yourself again, I will slave and fight to the end for you and for everything that you love. I hope that someday I will have **earned** this happiness you have brought me.I hope that I can show you everyday just what you mean to me. From this day forward I swear I will never break your heart, and I will destroy anyone who dares to try to hurt you. I love you more than life itself and would gladly give up my life if it meant I could save yours, so from this day forward, I swear to be always faithful, always loving, always and forever to be yours."_

_Hinata's eyes had filled with tears at his words, Garaa was apalled with himself, had he hurt her feelings?_

_Kankuro had anticipated this however, he leaned forward ever so slightly, and whispered,"That means she's really happy. Good job Bro."_

_Garaa had sighed with relief and had smiled lovingly at Hinata. She had smiled back and told him her vows. __Of course, Garaa didn't know that when he had told her his vows, she had been so touched, she had forgotten hers.__Luckily, Temari was her Maiden of Honor, and had fed her the vows via mumbled whispers behind Hinata's left ear._

_So, to everyone attending the wedding everything went off without a hitch, Hinata and Garaa had a lot of laughs over that later on._

Hinata lay in bed snuggled up next to the man she loved, holding little Hinara next to her. She was just getting ready to drift off, thinking about what awaited her when she returned to the village that had been her home for eighteen years, but was no longer a place she held dear, only the people there were precious to her, and she was going back to see them for the first time in four years, she could only imagine what it was going to be like, probably not fun, but who cared, she wasn't going alone, she was taking the only people who were the entire world to her, the ones who were sleeping next to her, she had everything she needed to be strong right here...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing. I plan to stay that way.

(Authors note: Someone informed that I have been mispelling Gaara's name, as Garaa, I got the A's mixed up, Sorry! Oh, and I forgot to add in the last chapter, for all you Yashamaru haters out there, you know who you are, I will explain what's going on, trust me!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"Hinata, why are we riding horses, why can't we just take that sand vortex thingy?" asked Hanabi, shifting her position on the back of a large grey horse.

"Because, Neji got sick last time, and because that jutsu is reserved for two or three people at a time, not a hundred." said Hinata, looking dignified on the back of a beautiful Dun mare with a black mane and tail.

"Well if your husband didn't insist on taking an _entourage_ with him everywhere, we wouldn't have this many people." said Hanabi brattishly, shifting again, she wasn't enjoying riding horses across the desert.

"He doesn't have an entourage, it's just a few essential people," said Hinata patiently, petting her mare, Adelante, on the neck.

"If it's just the essential people, why is Shirak here?" asked Hanabi crabbily, rubbing her sore backside.

"She is here to help me take care of Hinara," said Hinata, reaching down to check that everything in her saddlebags was in order.

Hanabi snorted, and glanced over at where Neji was deep in conversation with one of Gaara's endless servants, he seemed fine with riding a large red and brownish gelding, it trotted along patiently, keeping steady, even on the shifting desert sand.

She rolled her eyes, of course Neji would be fine with this, he despised the idea of going back through the sand vortex.

She glanced at where Shirak was holding baby Hinara and telling her a story, even though she was too young to understand, she seemed to listening intently. Hanabi couldn't help smiling, she had known her niece for all of two weeks, and already adored her. She couldn't wait for everybody back in the village to meet her, and the new and improved Gaara. Hanabi had gotten over her initial fears about the man her sister had married, after seeing the way he acted around Hinata, and how much he loved and adored Hinata and Hinara, they were 'His Girls', and he loved them to death.

Hanabi was however worried about how Hiashi would act at seeing Hinata again after all these years and the way Hinata might react to seeing him, after all, Hinata was a whole lot more gutsy now than four years before, and was most definately stronger, as she had demonstrated in her training sessions with Gaara, and when she trained young ninjas in the gentle fist stylings of the Hyuga's and in the methods of chakra control and conservation, also in Genjutsu and Taijutsu. She was an excellent teacher, her students loved and adored her, they begged her to continue their lessons even after they had learned everything they were supposed to learn for the day, she would tell them she had nothing left to teach them on that day, and that too much training was bad for young ninja in training, but that she would tell them a story, usually one in a series called, Ushamaki chronicles, most of which, Hanabi noticed were _**VERY**_ similar to the journeys and trials of one _**VERY**_ annoying blonde ninja her sister had once had a crush on. Hanabi remembered once when a little boy had asked her sister,"But _WHY_ did Naruzo turn into the doggy and bite Kiva?"

Hanabi remembered her sisters clearly amused tone when she had answered,"Because Naruzo was a very_ unusual_ ninja, he couldn't think of anything else to do, and because he knew Kiva would never mistrust Akabaru, or that Kiva would never expect Naruzo to bite him."

She smiled at what Naruto and Kiba would think of the way they were represented in these tales of grandeur and fantastic heroism. She imagined Kiba would be pleased,but Naruto would probably be a bit angry or confused, because he was usually the character of comic relief or the clown.

She watched as the lead horse in their caravan, a large, powerful, and beautiful black stallion, with a white blaze down his face, rode by an equally impressive Gaara, fell into step next to Hinata. She watched and listened to their conversation as best she could, but the wind was loud, and she missed most of it, but it went a little something like this,

"So, how are you? Do you want to stop and rest?" asked Gaara, looking at Hinata quizically.

"No, I am fine. Thank you very much,"sniffed Hinata snobbishly, sticking her nose in the air.

"Huh?" said Gaara, tilting his head to the side, not understanding why his wife was acting like a snob.

She opened one eye to peek at him, and the corners of her mouth tilted upward slightly.

Gaara understood, finally, he gaped,"Hey,"he shouted,"You'll pay for that!"

His hand flew torward her, he nailed her in the stomache, Hinata gasped for air,she almost fell off Adelante, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't believe it, Gaara, what _was_ he doing!? Neji and Hanabi saw this, they were immediately on alert, Neji's hand was halfway to his kunaii pouch when they realized, she couldn't breathe because she was laughing so hard!

Gaara was tickling the hell out of Hinata, she couldn't breathe, she fell to the side of her saddle, her perfectly styled hair fell out of it's bun, she almost toppled off, she was laughing so hard.

She pushed him back with her foot, she finally managed to right herself,"That's gonna cost you!" she gasped.

"Oh, what are you gonna make me sleep on the couch?" teased Gaara, smiling playfully.

"No, I'm gonna humiliate you in front of all of these people by beating your ass in a race!" shouted Hinata, kicking Adelante into a gallop, and then into a full out run. Adelante took off like a bullet, quickly hitting her perfect stride.

"Hey, that's no fair," shouted Gaara, kicking his own black horse into a gallop,then into a run as well,"Come on Dialgio, we'll show those crazy girls, let's _**GO**_!"He whispered into his horse's ears, shouting the last bit, giving Dialgio his head.

Dialgio did not disappoint, he picked up speed, never breaking stride, catching Hinata and Adelante, drawing dead even with them, the two horses both eager to please, they kept the pace easily. Hinata was laughing happily as the horses flew like birds over the ground, they looked like they were floating, their hooves barely seeming to touch the earth.

"Is this normal?"Neji asked, watching the two clouds of sand the horses were kicking up as they raced across the desert.

"Oh, yes, quite normal," said Gentsu, the old gardener/caretaker, he was of course more of a grandfatherly figure towards Hinara, that was the only real reason he was here. Also, Gaara valued his opinion, more so than some of his paid advisors.

"And no one minds?" asked Hanabi, letting her horse fall into step with them.

"Well, we're all just so happy to see Master Gaara happy, as opposed to his old unhappy and somewhat _homicidal_, self," said Gentsu,"And besides, Lady Hinata has brought so much to not only the Kazekage's home, but to the whole village, the young children adore her, they call her Hinata-sama, the older ninja all respect her for her skill, even the men, the village people, they all relate to her for some reason, she tries to make a point make sure that she and the Kazekage are seen as people, not just figureheads, or just high-and-mighty snobs. It's funny though, she hates politics, she always says that what she does isn't politics, it's just trying to connect with the people that matter, the people who are the ones who fight and die and work for the village. She really is quite special, it must take a great deal of strength for her to go back to the village that shunned her, and face her past and still put on a happy face."

A dog barked right next to Gentsu's horse's knee,"Stop it, I didn't mean you! You crazy animal, Happy, stop it at once!" commanded Gentsu.

"Why are we bringing Happy?"asked Hanabi, looking at the overly excited animal.

"Because Lady Hinata asked us to, besides, I think she might need him for moral support,"said Shirak,falling in beside them, holding a sleeping Hinara.

"I wonder what kind of family reunion this is going to be,"Neji wondered aloud.

"I have no idea, but it ain't gonna be pretty,"said Hanabi, no doubt contemplating the reunion.

"That's for sure," said Gentsu,Shirak, and Neji in unison.

They stayed silent for a bit,"Hey, where'd they go?" asked Hanabi after a bit.

"I have no idea," said Neji, looking around, steering his horse forward a bit.

"Just keep your eyes peeled, there's no way it would be so easy to get rid of them, believe me, we've trying," said Shirak, teasingly sarcastic.

"Ha, ha,"said Hanabi,"That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

They rode on for a bit, and eventually, a few miles away, they came upon an oasis, where they saw the horses grazing nonchalantly, not tired at all, they were just like their masters. But where were their masters? They went a little deeper into the oasis, and found Gaara and Hinata resting beside a pool of serene water, Hinata was dangling her bare feet in the cool water, Gaara, also barefooted, was lying down, his hands behind his head, his head resting in Hinta's lap, eyes closed, looking for all the world like he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"What took you slowpokes so long?" asked Gaara, without opening his eyes.

"Well, we were looking everywhere for you, so _EXCUSE _me if we didn't get here in a time that was convinent for you!"snapped Hanabi angirily.

"Lighten up, you'll never sleep at night if you don't. Take it from me." said Gaara calmly, still not opening his eyes.

"Grrr..." growled Hanabi, glaring daggers at him.

Hinata simply giggled.

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I'm sorry this whole chapter was fluff, more stuff is on the way, but it's my birthday today, so I'm really happy, so I can't write the hard stuff today, If you want more you'll have to tell me! Oh, and I really, desperately need someone to bounce ideas off of, you know like a editor, or a person to give an opinon on my writing, can someone please help me with that! Oh, and my work has been piling up, so could you guys give me some motivation? Reviews? _**PLEASE!**_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing. I do and will always plan to stay that way.

(Authors note: Thank you for all the feed back and for wishing me a happy birthday! This is the best gift I can give, sorry if it sucks!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"How do you think we should do this,?" asked Gaara, seriously.

Hinata took a deep breath,"If I'm gonna do this, I'm going to do it big." she said, taking Gaara's hand for support.

They were sitting on top of their horses, on the top of the hill that overlooked the Leaf village, trying to decide how to enter the village.

"Well, if anyone can do something with more enthusiasm than necessary, it's you two." said Hanabi, drawing up next to them, also staring at the village.

"That's for sure," said Neji from where he was, a little way back.

"Well, we already sent the word to Tsunade that we were coming so she knows we're coming, so she'll probably be expecting something big." said Gaara, thinking about ways to enter the village in style.

Hinata took a deep breath, _'Well,'_ she thought,_'I left this village in a blaze of glory,might as well come back in one.'_

Then, she kicked Adelante hard in the flanks, spurring her into a dead sprint, she flew down the hill at a breackneck pace, heading towards the village at a steady fifty or so miles, not pausing to think about what she was doing, she was done with thinking, she was going on pure impulse. Behind her Gaara spurred Dialgio, they were such a good match that he knew what she was doing without any kind of verbal communication, he knew what she was going for by entering the village like this.

He knew that in about three minutes he and Hinata would go flying into that village, all guns blazing.

He knew this probably couldn't work, but he couldn't stop the horses, no one could, not now.

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Tsunade was watching the sky, standing near the center of the village, waiting. This was where the Kazekage, and his wife, would be meeting her. She glanced around, and then at her watch for the billionth time. She was very annoyed, where the hell were they?!

Then she heard an almighty commotion from down the street, towards the gates of the village. She looked up, and was damn near blown away, the Kazekage and his wife, Hinata, barreling down the main street of _**HER**_ village, on the backs of two huge, wild looking horses, flying at speeds of about sixty miles an hour, heading straight towards her!

She was instantly furious. How **_DARE THEY?_!** She leaped up from her seat and planted herself directly in the path of the wild beasts.

Then she gasped, among the villagers fleeing the horses, a little boy had escaped from his mother, and was tottering towards the very center of the street so he could see the ponies. Well, he saw the ponies, hurtling towards him at a speed that they would never be able to stop in time, straight towards him.

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Hinata and Gaara hurtled down the street towards the little boy, unable to stop. Hinata saw him at the exact same time as Gaara did, she also saw that there was no way under the sun the could stop in time.

Dialgio was a smart horse, very smart. He and his master had a bond most people didn't understand, he knew what he could do, and he knew his master knew it too. So, he increased his speed, running straight towards the boy, then he leaped, his huge body flying over the boy with ease, his hooves just brushing the boys hair.

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From where she was standing in the middle of the street, Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, she saw Adelante, right behind Gaara's horse. She felt her whole body clench up, unable to tear her eyes from the sight she knew was coming, a little boy being trampled by a huge beast, his head smashed against the street, blood oozing everywhere, his eyes blank, filled with the last remnants of surprise and life, his body smashed into gross shapes, hair matted and congealed with blood.

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Adelante was just as smart, if not smarter than Dialgio, but for all her intelligence, she could never jump as high as him.

They were best friends, and she knew all of his signals, when to duck, when to leave, where the best food was, they could communicate without a word. So, when she saw him jump, she knew that the only reason he ever jumped anything was because he could make it, and because she couldn't.

So, she swerved, expertly.

She missed him by a hair, leaning with Hinata, as Hinata reached down as they raced passed, and she snatched the little boy up, preventing him from being crushed by any of the other horses in their procession.

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The horses skidded to a stop directly in front of Shizune, who was standing directly in front Tsunade.

Dialgio's nose halted barely a fraction of an inch from her nose, Shizune stared at the huge beast that had almost killed her for a full two seconds, then her heart gave out, and she fainted. Tsunade let her fall, and hit the ground.

She was too mad to notice,"WHAT IN THE BLAZING HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"she screamed, almost hysteric.

Gaara was inspecting Dialgio's saddle for scrapes, when he said,"Oh come on! No one got hurt, of course that was a close call, but you know that even I can't kill someone within the first two minutes of being in a village."

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!? WHAT THE HELL..." she started, but then,

"SESSHIARA!! SESSHIARA!!" shouted a voice, and pushing his way through the crowd, looking sick with worry, haphazardly holding a bag of what looked like grocceries, was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

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He raced over to them,"Sesshiara, Sesshy, oh Sesshy, are you alright?! Are you hurt?!" he said hoarsely, racing to greet the little boy who Hinata had set down and was running to Sasuke, babbling excitedly about 'Da pwetty ponies,' not at all scared.

Sasuke held the boy in his arms, clutching him tightly, eyes closed to hold back tears of joy.

Then he stood, and looked at them, then he recognized Hinata,"HINATA!!" he shouted happily, dropping the bag of groceries, racing over to throw his arms around Hinata, and babble about something like, how much he had missed her, how amazing it was she was alive, and how happy he was to see her.

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Hinata was amazed, Sasuke and she had been friends, but not close friends. But he seemed so happy to see her, he was saying something but she wasn't listening.

Then, the sounds of horses, and, "Hey, Sasuke!! Hey Saskue, what's goin' on?!" shouted Hanabi, riding up to them on the grey horse, dismounting, and looking at them.

"Looks like Hinata just met Sesshiara," said Neji, riding up, and dismounting as well, looking at Sesshiara, then back to Sasuke.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!?" shouted Gaara, throwing his head back, acting like frustrated child who couldn't understand what was going on.

"Oh, well, I suppose you wouldn't know," said Sasuke, looking at him,"This is my son, Sesshiara."

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"WHAT?!" said Hinata and Gaara simultaneously, gaping at him.

"Oh, yes he just turned three," said Sasuke, smiling at his son, who smiled back sunnily, not really understanding what all the fuss was about.

Hinata looked at Sesshiara, well, she could see the rescembleance, his hair was black, like Sasuke's, but it was softer color, his eyes, they were blue though, a bright, deep blue, darkish, almost like sea water, his face was somewhat like Sasuke's, except, his nose was a bit less pronounced, his chin as well, it looked like it might not be the same as his father's when he got older, but for now, it was close.

"Umm...I hate to break up this little stun fest, but, uh, can we get out of the street? Please?" said Tsunade sarcastically.

"Wow, I like her, she's smart." said Shirak, riding up, holding a still sleeping Hinara.

"Hinata?" said a farmiliar voice, Hinata turned, and saw none other than Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Ackimichi standing looking at her with confused smiles.

She smiled as well, this was going better than expected, she couldn't wait to hear the rest of their stories.

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Well, sorry,I hope you don't want to kill me now! Please review! I really need to get better! Don't worry, there's more on the way!

(Here's a hint:KIBA! KIBA! KIBA! and more KIBA!) Hope you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. You better believe I plan to stay that way.

(Authoor's note:I just wanted to apologize, one of you requested that I do a little SasuNaru, well I didn't know what that was, I do now, but it's a bit late forgive me! I will do a little one shot of that if you want, so just let me know! Bye! Oh, and thanks for wishing me a happy birthday!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"Well, I know how Hinara was born, and most people can believe it, but what I can't believe is that you have a son," said Gaara, sipping some tea, looking at Sasuke.

They were sipping tea at one of the less popular tea shops in Kohona, it was a favorite of the rookie nine, all now Chunin and Jonin, but they were still the rookie nine.

Sasuke sighed,"Yeah, a lot of people can't believe it either, most of them think I would be a terrible father," he said, looking out the window at where Sesshiara was talking animatedly to Shirak, Tsunade, and one little Hinara, he was waving his hands around, telling some wild story.

"I don't think that, of course I have no idea what to think, I don't even know who you're wife is," said Gaara, also watching Sesshiara as he talked and waved his arms.

"That's another thing," said Sasuke staring into space, "I'm not married, never have been."

Gaara just looked at him, waiting for an explaination, not judging him at all. "What happened?" he asked finally.

Sasuke sighed,"It was a while back, while I was still working for Orochimaru, he had an assistant, more like a minion he was controlling, her name was Kyokira, she was just a little girl when he tricked her into joining him, he promised her he could bring her older brother back to life, he was killed during a conflict between her village and enemies from the South. He had her believing he could walk on water, she was ruthlessly killling people for him, I managed to convince her otherwise, and, well, I suppose you could say, she began to mean a lot to me, and then she got pregnant, I had no idea, Orochimaru found out, instead of trying to beat me, he sent me on a mission that would get me killed, except, by some miracle, I survived,it took me seven months to get back, I was continually tortured and beaten on my way back, but I kept alive, I wanted to live long enough to see Kyokira again, I just wanted to see her face. And I knew she would be crushed if I died, so I kept going. The night I got back, was the very night Kyokira was giving birth, and as fate would have it, the same night, a lord from the West attacked with his armies, it was chaos, I got back into the castle, I found out from one of Orochimaru's henchmen, just as he was dying, about Kyokira, I was furious, I rushed off to find her, when I finally found her, one of the enemies was standing over her, holding a knife, I couldn't save her, he had stabbed her before I could even react. I went insane, how_** DARE**_ he, I killed him, and then I raced to her side, she was holding our son in her arms, a little boy, she told me that his name was Sesshiara, after her brother, she would be seeing him again soon, then she told me why Orochimaru allowed the baby to be born, he was going to use him, when the boy was grown, as his next host. Then she died. I flew into a rage, I took my son, and promised him that Orochimaru would never touch him, and that I would kill Orochimaru, for making him have to grow up without a mother. Then, I made my escape, no one noticed, I made my way back to Kohona, I knew that, if anything, they would protect my son, even if they killed me on sight. I begged Lady Tsunade to let me come back, or at least, take care of my son. She grew angry, then she told me how Orochimaru would follow me here, and then he would kill us all. Then she began to debate. I was prepared to leave, but then she told Shizune to ready the ninja, they were going to make a stand, the whole village fought, eventually Orochimaru was killed in the battle, we lost only a few ninja. Then Tsunade allowed me to come back, on one condition, that I never be allowed to be a ninja again, so I agreed, and me and Sesshiara have been living here for three years." concluded Sasuke, looking at Sesshiara in the very same way Gaara looked at Hinara.

Gaara watched him, then looked out at Sesshiara, knowing that Sesshiara was Sasuke's whole world. Then there was a commotion from the next table over, where Hinata had been catching up with Ino,Choji,Shikamaru,Sakura, who had joined them after getting off work, Shino,Lee, and Tenten, as well as Neji, and Hanabi. She had jumped to her feet and was procedeing towards the door. Gaara got up and went after her, she was mad, he could tell. He caught her wrist,"Hinata, hey, Hinata, what's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

"They won't tell me where Kiba is, I think he's dead, and they won't tell me!" she said, close to tears, and frantic.

"What? Why?" asked Gaara confusedly,"What's the meaning of this? Where is he?" He said, looking at Ino,Shikamaru,Choji, and the rest, as they came over to talk to Hinata. He looked at Sasuke, Sasuke looked at him for a few seconds, then dropped his eyes and chewed his lip. None of them said anything.

"I said, where is Kiba?" repeated Gaara, almost dangerously, looking at all of them, looking for a weakness.

Hinata began to cry, burying her face in Gaara's chest, sobbing in a muffled tone,"Oh God, he's dead! I knew it! I knew it! He's dead,it's all my fault!" her chest was heaving, she was crying uncontrollably. Gaara wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair, like she was a little girl, shooting them all filthy looks.

Sakura broke first,"He's not dead," she said, coming over to place a hand on Hinata's shoulder.

Hinata stiffened, she looked up at them with a tear-stained face, hope begining to show in her eyes.

"He's not?" she asked, sniffing, looking at all of them for conformation.

They all shot Sakura dirty looks, before Shino stepped forward,"No, he's not dead, he's alive, actually, he and Akamaru are renowned, they haven't failed a mission in four years." he said quietly.

"Really? Oh that's so wonderful! So, where is he?" she said, cheering up, wipimg the tears from her face, turning around to face them, leaning into Gaara's chest for support.

"Well..," began Choji uneasily, but then,

"Hinata?"

Hinata turned,"KIBA!!" she exclaimed, ready to race over and hug him, then she noticed his condition. He was thin, almost skeletal, his cheekbones protruded out of his face, his eyes were huge on his undernourished face, they were dead looking and overbright, his hair was dead looking and unclean, it looked like he hadn't even tried to comb it for three years, his skin was pale and waxy, almost like a corpse,he had three long jagged scars running down his neck, they looked like some giant animal had gotten a hold of him.There was dried blood all over his dirty, blood encrusted, stinking Anbu armor, he had long, filthy bandages runniong up the lengths of his arms. His hands were covered in scars, some new, some half healed, his legs were trembling, he didn't appear to notice, he had huge bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in years, he was shaking, but he didn't notice that either. His mouth hung open, as if didn't have the strength to close it. His Anbu mask hung from a wire around his neck, cracked, and dirty.

His dead looking, overbright eyes looked her up and down, observing the way she was standing against Gaara, observing the way she was holding Gaara's hand.

Then there was a shuffling, scraping noise from behind him, and something that looked like a filthy, anorexic pony, emerged from behind him, It took Hinata a second to realize that the pony, thing, was Akamaru. He looked, well better than Kiba, but not by much. He was thinner than Hinata knew a dog his size should be. His fur was filthy, unkempt, overlong, covered in dried blood that looked at least three weeks old, mud was clumped around his paws, dried and cracking. His face was covered in scars, some still oozing blood, some partially healed, and some all healed. His mouth was sewn halfway shut, it had clearly been done as a quick fix, as opposed to a real vet. Half of his left eye was sewn shut as well, a huge scar slashed over it. He was missing three toes on one of his paws. His right ear appeared to have been partially chewed off. His tail was mangy, it had less fur than ever before, it was crooked, and hung down like a banner of defeat. His eyes looked dead as well, they were filled with despair.

He caught sight of Hinata, his head perked up a little bit, his mouth opening a bit, his tongue hanging out slightly, his tail wagged weakly, almost pathetically, as if it had forgotten how, his eyes filling with a kind of dead hope, maybe...? But then his head dropped, his mouth closed, his tail drooped, he had given up long ago, it was useless to hope.

Hinata looked upon the heartbreaking scene, tears shining in her eyes. What had happened? Her eyes went back and forth between Kiba and Akamaru, a look of horrified sadness on her face. Then, without warning, Kiba suddenly reached a shaking hand into his supply pouch, almost missing it, he pulled out an orange glass pill bottle with a danger label on it, he brought the bottle to his mouth, placed the neck of the bottle in his teeth, and crunched the delicate orange glass in his teeth, then he tipped his head back, and poured the whole bottle down his throat. It took Hinata a few seconds to realize that the contents of the bottle was about twenty or so, food pills.

She was appalled, it was dangerous to take one food pill, let alone twenty! What was he thinking?! She used her Byakugan to see what he was doing, and sure enough, Kiba's chakra reserves were almost all gone, she was amazed he had enough energy to stand! She also noticed that he had just come off a food pill binge, and his body was still trying to recover. She examined the rest of his insides and was horrified, he hadn't eaten in so long his stomache was tring to digest itself. His lungs were burned by some unidentified substance, and his liver was in shreds, he had obviously been eating something his liver could never hope to break down. Then she looked at his heart, and was amazed, he still had enough chakra to put an optical shield around his heart, even with her Byakugan, she couldn't see the condition of his heart. She wondered why he would do such a thing. She was thinking of asking him, when, all of a sudden, chakra exploded in his stomache, the food pills were starting to work.

"Hinata...Hinata...You..and..him..?" asked Kiba in a voice hoarse from disuse, looking at her and Gaara.

Hinata was confused, what did he mean? Then it made sense, the food pills! She spun around, just in time to be pushed roughly aside as Kiba attacked Gaara, slashing his face, and punching his face. Gaara was surprised, so the sand didn't immediately leap up, Kiba was able to connect with his face, and smashed him to the ground. Kiba had gone insane, he was blindly tearing at Gaara, he was screaming in some kind of a demonic way, shouting out nonsense, completely out of control.

Happy who was there, immediately enraged, how **_DARE_** this human!? Gaara was his master Hinata's favorite thing in the whole world, she would be crushed if Gaara got hurt. Happy launched himself at Kiba, but instead, he was met by slashing, snarling, fangs and claws. Akamaru immediately attacked Happy, slashing Happy's shoulder, biting his front legs, trying to incapacitate Happy. Akamaru only fought for one thing any more, and that was Kiba. He didn't care about anything else anymore, not even his own life. He almost wanted to die. This life was hell, going on mission after mission, not even resting between them, not knowing when you'd eat again, leaping into hostile situations without thinking, your partner turning into a kamikaze psycho on every mission, constantly pushing himself, trying to die, or be killed. Never knowing when you'd get hurt, never getting helped properly when you got hurt, of course, Kiba tried his best to fix Akamaru's wounds, but he wasn't a vet. And on top of all that, trying to protect and take care of your almost suicdal master was hard, Akamaru was pushed to try to get Kiba to eat, to sleep, to slow down, it was a good day if he could get Kiba to do even one of those things. So, Akamaru fought hard everytime, never really wanting to come out alive, but pushing through, for Kiba.

Gaara and Kiba were locked in a dead on fistfight, Gaara was healthier, but Kiba seemed to have some kind of psychotic motivation, so they were almost evenly matched, then Kiba got the upper hand, he nailed Gaara in the stomache, Gaara flew to the ground. Kiba was about to kill him, when suddenly, Choji, and Shino grabbed his arms, and yanked him back, pulling him away. Lee, Shikamaru and Sasuke were trying to hold back an almost possessed Akamaru. Akamaru was trying to kill Happy now, not just incapacitate him. He was lungeing, snarling, and growling, letting everyone know he would kill Happy when he got free. Neji was trying to hold back and enraged Happy. Meanwhile, it was taking all Shino and Choji had to hold Kiba back, he was snarling, kicking and fighting to get free, shrieking about he would kill them all. It was very scary, Hinata was unerved, and afraid for Gaara, she helped him up from the ground, then looked at his wounds, staring at him with remorse written all over her face, reaching up to touch the bloody gashes on his face. She knew they wouldn't leave scars, but she was sorry all the same. Then Gaara put his arms around her, to comfort her. Kiba was watching, then all of a sudden, he stopped fighting, staring at them with wide, disbelieveing, pain filled eyes. He all of a sudden jerked free of Choji and Shino, backing away from the whole thing, horror on his face, tears flooding his eyes, then he turned and bolted out, reverting to all fours in his haste. Akamaru broke free and tore out after him, jumping the steps from the outdoor deck to the street, running after Kiba. Tsunade saw them go, she yelled after Kiba, but he kept running, Shino, Choji, Lee,Neji,and Shikamaru, all took off after him, trying to stop him from doing something stupid.

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Hinata looked at Gaara, tears spilling out of her eyes,"What happened to him?" she choked, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't respond,"I have to go," he said,"Sesshiara has to go to bed soon. I'm so sorry for what happened, I'm afraid I don't have the answers you want, I suggest you ask Shino." Then he turned, went and got Sesshiara, and left.

Hinata looked back at Gaara, then she got up, and went out the door. Gaara knew she was going to search for Kiba. He let her go, he knew she needed to do this alone.

He went and got Hinara, and went back to the foreign ambassador's embasy where he and Hinata were staying. Holding his baby tightly, afraid for what was coming, he knew that something big was going to happen, and it probably wasn't good.

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Hinata was running down the old farmiliar streets, tears flowing down her face. She was so upset about Kiba, what had happened? She was running, not really looking where she was going. She ran into a large man, she stumbled. "Sorry," she said, not looking up.

"Oh, I was wondering when you'd get your sorry whore ass back here," said an all too farmiliar voice.

Hinata looked up in astonishment, into the eyes of the last person she wanted to see right now, Hiashi.

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Shino, Shikamaru,Neji, Lee, and Choji were racing after Kiba, then, all of a sudden, they saw Akamaru. He was standing, sniffing something. As they drew closer, they saw that the something was none other than Kiba. He was lying still, blood pooling around him, his eyes closed. They couldn't see his chest moving.

"No, Kiba!" whispered Shino in horror.

Kiba was lying still, not moving, was he finally dead after four years of suffering?

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Gaara was walking along, holding Hinara, when, a strange robed ninja appeared,"You better beware, I would, for I fear your about to lose your wife." said the figure.

Gaara looked at him, horrified,"Where is she?" he snarled.

"I won't tell you. You'll just have to find her yourself. Well, I bid you ado, have a nice evening." said the figure, then he vanished.

Gaara stared at the spot where he had been, then he took off, back to where he hoped Hinata was, because, wherever she was, she was in danger, he needed to find her now! He nimbly leaped rooftops, only one thought occupying his mind, _'Hinata. Hinata. Hinata please hang on, I'm coming'._

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Okay, how many of you want to kill me now? Come on, be honest. Well, I hope you don't want to kill me, I was only writing the story, and if you review, I'll write more, but if not, well, I'm sorry, but I won't. Please tell me what you thought, and tell me what I should do better, I need to get better!

(Oh, and P.S.: I'm kind of a scaredy cat, so if you could, and I mean it, could you stop threatining to hit me with Mikel Jackson? He totally freaks me out, and I can't write when I'm hiding in a closet, hiding from Mikel Jackson. I'd appreciate it. Thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. Do you believe that I'm planning to stay that way yet?

(Author's note: Sorry if I confused you in the last chapter. Hopefully this chapter will clear some things up. Well, bye!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

Shino raced to Kiba's side, he landed next to him and placed two fingers on Kiba's filthy neck. He breathed a sigh of relief, he could feel Kiba's irregular heartbeat against his fingers. Then he inspected Kiba for wounds, and sighed sadly. Sure enough, the bandages had been partially ripped off his arms, and blood was oozing form his forearms.

"Oh Kiba, what's happened to all of us?" whispered Shino sadly, stroking Kiba's filthy hair.

The rest all looked on in sadnesss, mourning for their friend, afraid for what was happening to him. Then, Choji came over and helped Shino support Kiba as they helped him up.

"Waz goin' on?" mumbled Kibga incoherently, lifting his head a bit.

They didn't answer him as they supported him along, towards the hospital, sorry for what had happened to him.

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Gaara was racing along, when he heard a farmiliar voice.

"Hinata," he exclaimed, jumping the last building, landing in the middle of a street crowded with people, all of them forming a large ring in the center of the street.

He jumped above the crowd and felt hios stomache drop out, Hinata was standing there, looking straight into the face of none other than Hiashi, his fist heading striaght towards her...

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**THREE MINTUES EARLIER**...

Hinata had had enough. This was _**NOT**_ what she needed, all she wanted was to find Kiba. She tried to step around Hiashi, but he blocked her path, she stepped the other way, still trying to get away. He blocked her again,"Going somewhere?" he smirked, crossing his arms.

Hinata lost it. She needed to find Kiba **NOW**! She had had enough of this crap. She snapped her head back, looked dead into Hiashi's eyes, and shouted,

"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL RIP YOU INTO LITTLE PIECES AND SPREAD YOUR ASHES ALL OVER THE WORLD!"

Hiashi was amazed, Hinata had never taken such an authoritive tone, he grew angry, she hadno right to speak to him that way,"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET OFF TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT! YOU WHORE!" he shouted, then he drew his hand back and threw his fist towards Hinata...

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Choji, Lee,Neji,Shino and Shikamaru landed, just as Hiashi's fist was heading striaght towards Hinata's head. Shino was apalled, but there was nothing he could do, he had gotten there too late. He could only watch in horror for what he knew was coming. The villagers were crowded around watching. Neji knew that this was it, this was the dreaded reunion, and it was going very badly.

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Gaara landed just in time to here Hiashi call Hinta a whore, and to see his hand headed towards her head. He grew angry, the sand around him leaped, headed towards Hiashi, but it was too late.

Hinata barely had time to react, but just as his fist was going to smash her head, her hand shot up, she caught his fist deftly, deflected the blow, and twisted his wrist, and then, his wrist snapped like a twig under her hand.

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Hiashi was stunned, he shrieked in pain, yanking his arm back, cradling his wrist. He looked at her with pure venom, hatred burning anew in his eyes.

"Why you! I'll kill you!" he hissed, bringing up his other arm to hit her, but the rest had had time to react. They pushed their way forward, standing behind her, offering a promise that they would all kill him if he even tried it. He was no fool, he knew when it was better to run, or to not fight.

"Hmph, is this what you call being strong Hinata? You can't even stand alone, you wouldn't be able to beat at all me if it was just you and me." he said, pain twisting his features grossly.

Hinata stiiffened, her face twisting in rage,"YOU THINK YOU CAN CALL ME WEAK?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW STRONG I'VE GOTTEN! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A YAKINU, TOMMOROW, MIDMORNING, THE CHUNIN BATTLE ARENA! I'LL GLADLY TEAR YOU APART IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE VILLAGE!"screamed Hinta, eyes blazing.

The crowd burst into whispers, _"A yakinu, is she crazy!?"_

_"What the hell is she doing?!"_

_"Can she even do that?!"_

_"Somebody get Lady Tsunade!"_

"What's going on here?" asked none other than Lady Tsunade herself, stepping through the crowd,"Hiashi, what the hell happened to your arm? What's going on?"

"Hinata challenged Hiashi to a Yakinu, tommorow at midmorning," said Neji, stepping forward, shooting Hiashi a disgusted look.

"A Yakinu?! Hinata are you sure?" asked Lady Tsunade disbelievingly.

"Yes," said Hinata, looking determined,"It's time I faced my fears, I'm going to settle this once and for all."

"I don't get it, what's a Yakinu?" asked Gaara confused, he wasn't really aware of Kohona traditions.

"It's a cerimonial battle," said the most unexpected voice,Kiba lifted his head to look at them,"In a Yakinu, two people go into the ring, only one comes out, unless the winner decides to spare the loser's life, but that's never happened before. There are all sorts of rules, you have to follow them exactly, the biggest rule, do whatever it takes to win. If you are challenged to a Yakinu, you are almost bound to have to accept the challenge, or else risk losing your family's honor. You have to fight until you die, or until your opponent is dead or otherwise incapacitated, and if you lose, your family loses it's honor, and you lose your life, it's the highest level of challenge here in Kohona, it''s a tradition that hasn't occured for over fifty years, and the reprecussions are ususally huge, but you are honorbound to fight until you die." Then he coughed, and kept coughing, his whole body shaking from the effort, he fell to his knees, then to all fours, coughing uncontrollably, then blood began to pour out of his mouth, his chest heaving, he fell forward, collapsng on the ground, eyes closed, blood pouring out of his mouth.

"Kiba!" cried Hinata, running to his side, kneeling down and cradling his head, and looking at him. Tsunade came over as well, knelt down and looked at him as well,"This isn't good, Kiba! Kiba!_ Damn it_, **KIBA**! Stay with me! **KIBA!!** Someone get a medical team! He needs to get to the hospital NOW!" she shouted, cradling Kiba's limp head.

Hinata looked on, fear written on her face. Kiba was lying perfectly still.

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Kiba was rushed straight to the hospital, he wasn't breathing, Sakura was administering CPR, but it wasn't helping. As soon as they got there, Kiba was raced off to surgery, and Hinata had to sit down and hold Hinara tightly. So much had happened, it seemed like forever since this morning, when she had raced Gaara across the desert.

Kiba was almost dead.

She wa now honorbound to a battle she would probably lose, and would die during.

And to top it all off, she was exhausted and in no condition to fight.

She sighed, and held her baby closer, oh how wonderful it must be to be so sweet and innocent, free from all troubles, safe in knowing that you were loved and someone, somewhere, loved you forever.

She knew what was wrong with Kiba, not physically, but what had pushed him this far over the edge. She knew what it was, and it was eating her, she should have known he would react to her leaving like this, but she hadn't thought about it. She sighed.

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"What happened to Kiba? Sasuke told me I should ask you, and I know you don't know me that well, but I need to know." said Gaara as he approached Shino, stopping to stand next to him, looking through the window, down into the room where surgens were examining Kiba's chest cavity.

Shino remained silent for a bit,"Well," he finally began,"It had everything to do with Hinata's leaving. Though she pretended never to notice, she knew that Kiba's feelings for her went deeper than those of a friend. He loved her, and she knew it. At least subconciously, but when she left, and we thought she was dead, Kiba fell apart. He always took things badly, and I think Hinata's apparent death was what pushed him over the edge. He was close to cracking before, Sasuke's betrayal messed him up, although no one really knew it, it was next to impossible for him to accept that a ninja he had grown up with would betray his home. Then, he joined the Anbu black ops, that was a few months after she left, he was managing to hold it together before, but after he joined, he went down hill. He stopped eating, he stopped sleeping, he stopped caring about anything or anyone, he couldn't even take care of Akamaru anymore, he started to take food pills, a few at a time at first, but then he started to take several at a time, then he started to hurt himself, mostly just letting himself get hurt in battles, then he started being purposely reckless, then, and I'm still not sure, but I think he's started to cut his arms. He says it takes his pain away, and he won't let anyone help him, he is trying to die, he's ignoring his mother, his sister, and even his dog, and especially his teamates, and classmates, and there's nothing we can do anything about it."

Shino finished with a sigh, looking sadly at Kiba.

Gaara was silent, he knew that this wasn't any of his business, but he knew that this boy meant something to Hinata, and he wished he could do something. He sighed as well, looking sadly at the boy, his life wasted, his talent destroyed, his hope, it was all gone, Gaara felt so sorry, Kiba really had lost it all, and Gaara didn't think he could ever get back.

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Don't hurt me! Please! I tried to make it good. Review and I will update, if you don't then I won't. Well, see ya' later! Bye!

(Oh, and this was the way I though Kiba would react if he had though Hinata was dead, then saw her again, and she was married to someone Kiba didn't like. So, sorry if you didn't like it!)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing. I hope you do understand that I plan to stay that way.

(Authors note:I'm sorry for the tradgedy in the last chapter. Hopefully you'll like this better, but I'm not sure.)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"Hey,little one, what's wrong?" asked a concerned voice.

Hinata's head jerked up,"Huh? Uh, who are you?" she asked, looking into the face of a ninja who seemed farmiliar, but she wasn't sure.

"Oh, ya' know, I'm just a person," said the silver haired ninja, shifting his position from one foot to the other, holding a squirming animal.

"Uhhh...Oh, I know you, you're Kakashi," said Hinata, her eyes clearing,"Um, what did you call me? Little one? What's that supposed to mean?"

Kakashi smiled,"Well, you're little, for one thing, and I haven't seen you since you were a little girl, so Little one." he said matter-of-factly, petting the animal, which turned out to be a kitten.

"Uh,last time I saw you, I was eighteen, I wasn't little,"Said Hinata confused, welcoming the conversation that was diverting her from having to think about Kiba.

"Well, you weren't married, you hadn't had a baby, and you weren't as confident, all traits that little kids have. So, to me, you were little, of course I never paid you much attention, no offense." he said, his eyes crinkling, showing he was smiling.

Hinata was baffled, what was _**wrong**_ with this guy? She looked back at him, she sighed.

"So, a big sigh, what's up?" said Kakashi, squatting down to look into her face from where she was sitting on the bench. He regarded her placidly, waiting for her to tell him what was up.

Hinata sighed again,"I don't wanna talk about it," she said looking away from his trusting face.

"Well, if you didn't want to talk about it, then you wouldn't say anything at all, so you must wanna talk about it." said Kakashi persistantly, acting like she was a smalll child he needed to explain things to.

She looked at him, annoyed, what was _**WRONG**_ with him, why didn't he just leave?

"Well, if you wanna be like that, but I want you to something for me, 'kay Little one, I want you to look into your heart, and tell me, is it aching from loss, is it threating to break, are you about to lose someone? Don't even try to deny it Little one, you know it's true. And I've never seen a soul so lost and in despair, so if you want to talk this through, I'll be here, so if you don't have anyone to listen, or anyone you can tell who won't judge you, you can tell me. I'll be here, so if you need to pour your heart out, I'm listening." said Kakashi, still petting the kitten, shifting a more comfortable squatting position.

She looked into his eyes, well, eye, and broke,"It's Kiba, I'm afraid, he's about to die and it's my fault. He's in surgery, and I think it's my fault, I don't know what to do, I don't what to say, it's my fault, everyone knows it, they don't say anything though, but I know they think it's my fault! What am I supposed to do?" she sobbed, breaking down, in front of someone she would have never wanted to break down in front of.

Kakashi watched her quietly, not saying anything. He reached out after a few mintutes and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, ya' wanna know what I think?" he said quietly, comforting her,"I think that right now, there's nothing you can do, all you can do is pray, pray to any god, anyone, beg the spirits, ask the ghosts, to please spare Kiba. All you can do now is pray, pray and hold your family close, now you know what happens when you lose someone you love, and you know that the time you have is precious, so hold onto the people you love, hold on tight, hold on with both arms. And if you lose Kiba, hold tighter, hold as tight as you can, and cherish everyday, and let everyone know what happened, how a ninja once lost someone he loved, and died from a broken heart. Make sure this never happens to anyone again, and remember, this isn't your fault, Kiba lost someone he loved, but the way he handled it, that was all his doing. So, this isn't your fault, remember that, and if you do lose him, remember, it wasn't your fault, and remember the good times, the times when you and Kiba were happy, when everyone was happy, because, these days, only a lucky few are happy."

Then he abruptly stood, and made as if to leave.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" asked Hinata, looking up, tears on her cheeks.

"Me? Well, I'm going to see Kurenai, she's here, I think she pulled something, or Asuma got her pregnant, either way, I brought her a kitten. She likes kittens."said Kakashi nonchalntly, stretching, and petting the sleeping kitten.

Hinata gaped, then as he began to leave,"Hey, if it's the second one, say congratulations from me, 'kay?" she called after him.

Kakashi didn't respond, but he raised his hand in a backwards wave, letting her know he would.

Hinata smiled, suddenly filled with hope, things might not be so bad after all...

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Kiba felt like his head was on fire, so was everything else. He groaned, his whole body hurt, and this was worse than the ususal pain he lived with, this wasn't the kind of pain he liked, this was the kind he wanted to avoid at all costs, the kind that hurt his heart, not physically, but the kind that hurt so bad it transferred into physical pain.

He knew he would need to find a nice quiet place, find a razor or something, maybe his own claws, but anything, and then, What? Kiba squirmed over so he was on his side, it hurt too much to lie on his back, and began to think. Thinking, the only thing Kiba could do without being in pain, and even that was dangerous, he needed to work very hard to ensure that his mind didn't stray back to Hinata, because once he thought about her, it hurt all over, a thousand times worse than any physical pain he had ever experienced. He sighed, wondering where Akamaru was, honestly he couldn't keep track of that dog anymore, he didn't have enough left in him to care where Akamaru was, as long as Akamaru came back, it didn't matter. He sighed and looked out of the window of the room where he was, it was strange, they had put him in one of the nicer rooms, usually reserved for important people, usually terminally ill patients, not self mutilating ninja who were going to check out in the morning. That was another thing, were they going to let him leave? Kiba had had this problem before, Tsunade had noticed his lack of food and rest, and had tried to keep him in the hospital, so he'd had to start eating and pretending to sleep again. Of course he always fed his food to Akamaru, or, if they watched him eat it, as they often did, he simply threw it back up. He sighed, reaching over and grabbing his chart. A while back, Kiba began to teach himself about medicine, so if he absolutely _needed_ medical attention, he could do it himself, he pulled the chart out, flipped it around, expecting to see something like fatigue, malnutrition, lack of sleep, stomache and heart stress from food pills, but what he saw sent the blood out of his face. The chart fell to the bed, his eyes blank, _'No. **NO. NO. NO. NO.** This isn't happening,'_ he had brought this on himself, he knew it, but THIS! _**'NO. NO. DAMN IT! NO. NO.NO.NO.'**_ Kiba stared ahead, his mind blank, it wasn't happening. What had he done!?

"Stupid...Stupid...You stupid bastard, what have you done?!" he growled at himself, self loathing in his voice,"DAMN IT!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!?!? GOD!! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE! THIS CAN'T REALLY BE IT!!" He was shouting now, not caring what was happening. He threw the chart out of the bed, just as the door flew open, and twenty or so medical ninja flew into the room. Kiba was so crazy by now, grief, remorse, and self loathing filling him. He leaped out of bed, standing there wearing not wearing any shoes, someone had taken his armor as well, he was in regulation medical cotton shorts and a cotton T-shirt. He growled as the ninja cicled him, he sank down to all fours, he had no chakra left for any kind of jutsu, but he wasn't staying here, no way. He wasn't going to wait here and wait for his stupidity to tear him down. He leaped at the nearest ninja, as luck would have it, this ninja was an intern, and was frightened by the psychotic boy who'd started screaming in the night.

Kiba scared the ninja way, and tore out through the open door, he raced down the corridor, racing blindly, tears filling his eyes and spilling out the sides. He tore out, then he saw Akamaru, lying with his head down,"Akamaru! Hey, Akamaru!" he shouted as he ran blindly forward.

Akamaru lifted his head, and was on his feet in an instant, he fell in step next to Kiba, they ran forward, Akamaru was weaving, preventing all the kunaii the ninja were throwing at Kiba, from hitting Kiba. They raced madly towards the door, Kiba's heart was beating wildly against his chest, _'Traitor,'_ he thought, panting, he was still in so much pain, but he wouldn't stay here, never. He was going somewhere besides this accursed place to think. He saw the door, and ran towards it, smashing into it, sending splinters and wood flying everywhere as the door shattered.

Kiba was thrown forward onto the ground as he crashed dazedly through the door. He pushed himself back up onto all fours, trying to move forward but wobbling, slipping, shaking, and stumbling all over, he was dazed. He staggered forward as he heard the ninja come out, all of them, about forty or so now, they had all been given strict orders to keep this boy here at all cost, and they weren't letting him leave.

Kiba called for Akamaru and Akamaru leaped over, landing in front of him, and allowing him to scramble onto his back, then he leaped away, escapimg from this place, taking a very dazed,confused, hurt, and remorseful Kiba with him. He was taking Kiba to the only place where he knew Kiba could handle this in his own way. And the fact that it was he, Akamaru, man's best friend, who was taking Kiba there, well, Akamaru was very sad and remorseful as well, as he headed to Kiba's favorite place to go. He knew that this was it, and it was horrible.

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**AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER...**

Hinata was awakened by a light tapping noise on her window. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around, and gasped.

Kiba was sitting on the rooftop next to her window. She was a bit wary, but she got up, and crossed to the window, and pushed it open.

"Kiba?" she whispered uncertainly, looking at him.

Kiba looked like a kicked puppy looks, his eyes were still overbright, and huge on his thin face, but at least there was something in them, not just a blank,dead look. He had a look of defeat and sorrow in his eyes. He was bruised, and she noticed he had fresh bandages on his arms. They were faced outwards as he crouched down, looking at her. He was barefoot, and wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

"Kiba?" she repeated uncertainly.

"Where's your...husband?" said Kiba with difficulty, he seemed slightly disoriented, and he was speaking in a quavering voice.

"Uhhh...Gaara's speaking with Lady Tsunade about the Yakinu, and Shirak's watching Hinara. But why are you here?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Hinata..." his voice trailed off, and his eyes got a faraway look, then he shook his head in an almost vicious way,"Hinata, I need to tell you something, but I don't know how, so I won't tell you, just understand, I do everything I do for a reason, and I'm so sorry, I've messed things up again, so, I'm sorry." he finished, then looked to the left, avoiding her gaze.

"Kiba, what's going on? Are you alright?" asked Hinata, worry clouding her features, as she reached up and touched the side of his thin face. He flinched slightly, but then relaxed, and allowed her to stroke his face. He sighed and closed his eyes, living in the moment, hoping this could last forever, but it couldn't, he needed to tell her now.

Kiba all of a sudden reached up and grabbed her hand with one of his own scarred ones, he looked at her, sorrow all over his face, then he spoke,"Hinata, this Yakinu, it's a bad idea. You don't know how much stronger Hiashi's gotten in these last four years, he's practically unbeatable."

"Why are telling me this?" said Hinata, looking at him with a kind of confused hurt on her face.

"Because, I wanted to give you something,"he said, then he reached into his supply pouch, and pulled out three scrolls, each old and powerful looking. There was protective jutsus preventing just anyone from touching them.

Kiba extended them to her, an imploring look on his face, as if begging her to take them.

"What are these?" she asked, looking at him, confusion written all over her face. Then she looked at them again, and saw **'INUZUKA' **written on them in faint, fading, old ink. Then she understood.

"Kiba! I can't take these, they're the ancient tecnique scrolls of your clan, those are supposed to be passed on the next generation of the Inuzuka clan."she said alarmed, looking at him with a confused look.

Then Kiba did something strange, he laughed.

"What next generation?!" he said cynaically, his body shaking from laughter,"There's nothing left! My mother, me and Hanna are the only ones left, and Hanna just found out that she can never have children. And me, well, I don't think so, I've so been dumb and now I'm gonna pay for it, so there's no one left. Hinata, I want you to have these, there part of the reason my clans been able to make it, after all, the Inuzuka's were never huge in numbers, not like the Hyugas. These might help you in your fight against Hiashi, don't worry, there very adaptable, these jutsus, so you don't have to be an Inuzuka to use them."

"Kiba..." began Hinata in an encouraging voice, probably about to give a motivation speech.

But he cut her off,"Hinata, I want you to take these, I need you to take these, please. Please teach the children in your village, I need to know that at least, the Inuzuka's knowledge won't be lost, please?"

Hinata looked at him with sad tears welling up in her eyes,"Kiba..." she said, sadness choking her, but then,

"Hinata, will you please look after Akamaru for me? He's a good dog, and I'm sorry for what I've done to him these past few years, he deserves better than that." said Kiba, quietly, looking to the left again, avoiding looking into her tears filled eyes.

Hinata was crying silently now, tears pouring down her face without a sound,"Okay," she managed to choke, nodding sadly.

"Thank you," said Kiba sadly, then he looked into her eyes, sadness, pain, remorse, and regret written all over his face, and in his eyes, then he leaped off the roof, and took off into the night.

He didn't look back.

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I'm sorry if you hated it. I hope you can forgive me. Oh, and did I leave you on a cliffhanger? I tried to, no offense, but I'm experimenting with my writing. Tell me what I can do better, I need to get better! Oh, and review, because if you don't I won't write anymore. Sorry! Oh, and this isn't the end of Kiba, not yet.

(Oh, and if I haven't finshed this story by this weekend, I'm gonna have to stop writing for a while, until December 18. I'm so sorry! I got assigned the worst Social Studies project ever! Don't kill me! KILL MY SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER! Well, bye!)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. As I say, I plan to stay that way!

(Authors Note:Hey! Not very many of you had reviewed when I wrote this chapter, please, **REVIEW**! Also, I'm sorry for any confusion caused by the last chapter, I will try to do better!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"Dadda,Dadda,Dadda, Dadda, why we go to awena?"babbled one very excited Sesshiara, dancing in place.

"Because, we're going to see Hinata when she fights Hiashi." explained Sasuke patiently to his son, patting him on his head.

"Oh," said Sesshiara, thinking,"Why she wanna fight Hizashi?"

"Hia_**shi**_, and she wants to fight him because he hurt her before, and now she needs to stand up to him," said Sasuke, smiling affectionately at Sesshiara.

"Oh,"said Sesshiara,"Hey daddy, isn't Hia_**shi**_, Hinada's daddy?"

"Yes, he is her father, but he doesn't act as if it matters," said Sasuke, his face darkening.

"Oh," repeated Sesshiara,"Hey Daddy, are you an' me ever gonna fight like that?"

Sasuke looked in surprise at his son, wondering why he would ask that. "No, I hope not." said Sasuke, almost sadly.

"Oh, that's good, 'cuz, I don' wanna hurt you Daddy, I love you Daddy." said Sesshiara, coming over, and hugging Saskue's knee, smiling up at him.

"I love you too," said Sasuke pleasently surprised, hugging his son back.

"And you always will?" asked Sesshiara, looking up, his little face clouding with worry.

"Of course, you're my son, and I will always love you, forever and always." said Sasuke, picking Sesshiara up, and putting him up on his own shoulders.

"I wuv you forever and always too," said Sesshiara, burying his little face into his father's hair, smiling.

Sasuke smiled, and continued on his way down the road the battle arena.

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"Hinata, promise me you won't let this go too far," said Gaara, looking imploringly into Hinata's eyes as she prepared for the Yakinu.

Hinata stayed silent, tying up her long hair into a ponytail and tying her sleeves back.

"Hinata?" repeated Gaara, steeping closer to look into her face, anxiety painting his features, as he held a very bubbly Hinara. Hinara pulled excitedly on his head band from where it hung around his neck.

"Gaara, I need to do this, _alone_," said Hinata, pulling her sandals on,"I'm sorry, I need to do this, please don't be mad."

"I'd never be mad at you for facing your fears, but please, if you need me, I will be here."said Gaara, looking at her sadly.

"I know, I love you," said Hinata, walking over and putting her arms around him, breathing in his pleasent scent of sandalwood,orange spice, and sand.

"I love you too, more than anything," said Gaara, holding her tightly, breathing in her pleasent lilac, and roses scent, with a hint of something sweet.

Hinata pulled back and looked at him, her eyes shining,"Thank you," she said, then she reached out and picked up Hinara, hugging her tightly. Then she turned away and began to walk towards the door to enter the arena, then she paused,"Gaara, promise me no matter what happens, you won't interfere in the fight?" she asked seriously.

"Oh, come on, you know me better than that,"said Gaara, trying to convince her.

"Yes, I do, and I want your word that you won't interfere, please?" she asked looking back at him, smiling.

"Oh alright,"sighed Gaara,"I promise."

"Thank you,"said Hinata, as she turned and walked into the arena for the very last time, her back straight, her head held high.

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A great roar erupted from the crowd as Hinata emerged.

"Well, I guess she didn't take my advice," said Kiba sadly, lying flat on his stomache on the high roof above the stands.

He was here because he knew Lady Tsunade would have people looking for him, and he didn't want to be found.

A loud thumping sound didn't phase him at all as it landed next to his head,"Hey, it's about time, where'd you go?" asked Kiba, petting Akamaru on the back.

Akamaru simply nuzzled Kiba. He was sad, and he was hiding it very badly. He wimpered, nudging Kiba's arm.

Kiba had told Akamaru what was wrong with him, and Akamaru had reacted by leaving Kiba alone.

Although Kiba didn't know it, his dog had gone and seen Kuromaru, Kiba's mother's dog. Akamaru had informed Kuromaru what was wrong with Kiba, and broke down in a fit of wimpering.

Akamaru had wanted to know what he was supposed to do, he had done all a good dog does. He had protected Kiba, helped Kiba, brought Kiba food, fought for Kiba, and now, what could he do? All he had done, all he had lived for was Kiba, and now it was about to all slip away.

Kuromaru had had some good advice, _'Stay with Kiba,'_ he had said, _'Let Kiba know you're there and no doubt Kiba will make arrangements for you, don't fight them, no matter what they are, no matter how much it hurts, respect his wishes. Trust me, it will help you survive with yourself, and someday, look for something to make you happy, find something, anything, to live for, and live. **Live** Akamaru.__This may seem like the end, and it is, for this leg of your journey, but there is more waiting for you, so you must live.'_

Akamaru sighed as he settled next to Kiba, letting Kiba rest against him, almost like the old days, as if nothing had ever come between them, as if nothing had changed.

But so much had changed, and it wasn't the old days, they weren't okay, neither one of them, something had come between them, and sealed thier respective fates.

But for now, Akamaru could pretend, all the while, taking the advice of his wiser counterpart, he would stay with Kiba, until the very end.

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Hinata took a deep breath as she turned and faced Hiashi.

Hiashi was standing berfore her wearing the colors of the Hyugas, plated armour gleamed in the light of mid-morning, the Hyuga clan symbol of fire glinted off his chest plates, a slim, ancient katana gleamed at his side. His wrist was secured in a cast, and he seemed ready to fight.

"Well, you finally showed up," smirked Hiashi, reaching over with his left hand, and yanking the katana smoothly from it's sheath.

"Yes,"said Hinata, removing a kunai, holding it at the ready, her body slightly arched forward, ready to intercept any attack.

They stood at a dead face off, as the impartial official explaining the rules, stood between them.

"And, finally, use of any kind of demonic jutsu that may inflict harm upon the viewers of the battle, or the village, is expressly forrbidden, any party found guilty of implementing such a jutsu has forefitted the battle, and given up any claim to the Kohona village, or residence here, in other words,"He said, dropping all of the formallness,"Use a demonic jutsu that puts anyone besides your opponent in danger, then we kick you out of the village in shame, revoking your ninja rights at the same time. Everyone understand? Good!" Then he turned and leaped out of the danger zone, landing on the dividing bar, twirling quickly, and shouting,"Let the fight commence!"

Hinata and Hiashi stood still for a full two seconds, then everything exploded.

Hiashi charged forward at the same time as Hinata threw the kunai, leaping in the air at the same time, throwing three more kunai from the air, Hiashi stopped and warded the kunai off with the katana, then catching one of the flying kunai, he twirled it, and threw it back at Hinata, who dodged in midair, then all of a sudden she gasped as Hiashi vanished from his place on the ground, she used her Byakugan, but it was too late, Hiashi was next to her in an instant. He smashed the flat of his hand into the flat of her stomache, sending her crashing to earth. She bounced as she smashed down, she flew up after she bounced, crashing again and rolling to a stop on her stomache. She lay still.

From where he was, Gaara gasped, leaping forward from his seat, he clutched the dividing bar as if it were a lifeline, his knuckles white.

Hinata shifted and slowly pushed herself up. She was panting as she looked at Hiashi as he landed, walking over to stand in front of her.

"Well Hinata, had enough? Or should I continue and kill you? It really would be a shame to kill you while your husband and small daughter watch, so I give you a choice, get up, turn around, and walk away, go back to your village, never come back, ever. If you don't take this oppurtunity, I will not hesitate to kill you."said Hiashi, looking down at her, where she still lay on the ground.

"Sc... y...," mumbled Hinata, looking at the ground in front of her.

"What did you say?" asked Hiashi, his arms crossed, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, did I not speak loud enough?" asked Hinata, snapping her head back, staring full into his face,"I said,**SCREW YOU!"**

Then she leaped to her feet, amidst cheers from the crowd, they were going wild. Hinata staggered slightly as she stepped back, she took a deep breath, holding her chest, she stood straight, and looked Hiashi directly in the face, taking up the typical defensive position, one hand extended, one arm back slightly, legs braced sideways, she faced him, eyes determined.

"Well, you've sealed your fate, and now you_** DIE**_!"shouted Hiashi, blasting off from thr ground, sending chakra to his feet to increase his speed.

Hinata took off as well, they ran parrallel around the arena, in a wide circle. Hiasni began to make complex hand signs, then he activated his Byakugan, then he leaped back, and shouted,"Blackfire hell secret jutsu!", then flames of pure black hellfire exploded out of his mouth.

Hinata leaped away with enough time to escape, she leaped high into the air, smiling as she thought,_'Ha, Hiashi, you're getting slower, I can dodge it!"_, but then, the fire flew straight up, following her chakra signature.

Hinata was blasted with the full force of the black flames. She couldn't stifle a scream of pain, as she writhed inside the flame cacoon, her body twisting in grotesque shapes.

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Gaara leaped forward, the sand around him leaping up, ready to destroy Hiashi from where he was, he launched the sand forward, but then, the sand exploded back into his face. He was knocked over, sand burning his face. He shook his head, looking confused,'_What the hell?"_he wondered, looking at the sand around him. Then, his mind flooded with horror as he remembered,

_"Gaara, promise me no matter what, you won't interfere in the fight?"_

_"Oh come on, you know me better than that,"_

_"Yes, I do, and I want your word you wont interfere, please?"_

_"Oh alright," he had sighed,"I promise."_

Gaara flet panic and horror flood him._He had promised.__** He had promised!!**_

He stared at Hinata in horror, watching as she plummeted to the ground.

He could do nothing, nothing except watch, as the woman he loved was falling, as she fought, and the whole time, knowing he was powerless to stop Hiashi, if Hiashi won.

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Hinata felt her body on fire, on the inside and out.

This was no ordinary jutsu, this jutsu could do things to your mind, make you see things that could destroy you, not in body, but they were so horrible, you wished it hurt your body, physical pain was better than this, a thousand times better.

Hinata screamed, as unwanted images of horrible things projected into her head...

_Gaara laying dead, her standing over him covered in his blood..._

_Hinara, older, being killed viciously by, Neji..._

_Gaara, in the arms of, Hanabi, Gaara telling her he hated her, that he loved Hanabi..._

_Her family all visiously killed, Neji drenched in blood, eyes empty and dead, Gaara, gasping for breath, begging her to help him, Hinara laying facedown, still and unmoving, Hanabi, her limbs broken in all directions, her organs showing through a disgusting cut in her stomache, herself, standing, watching, unable to help at all..._

_Kiba, Shino, everyone she knew in Kohona, all dead..._

_The children she loved in Suna, all dying, begging for help, some shouting that it was her fault, screams of pain vaulting to the sky, unnatural coming from the throats of such young children, blood everywhere, her unable to move, knowing it was all her fault, she turned to see who had done it, her screaming without a sound, as Gentsu, the old gardener staggered towards her, his arms were gone, blood pouring from him, blood everywhere, saying in pain, why had she done it? Why had she broken him? She was screaming now, not knowing what was happening, hearing a sound, she turned and saw a monster, she screamed soundlessly, endlessly, as ...Gaara, stood there holding his head, eyes wide, blood dripping fom his mouth, demonic sand swirling everywhere, eyes twisted, he was laughing, laughing like a psychotic demon, he looked at her, eyes empty of emotion, demonic, "You see Hinata, this is what I do when you leave me, I killed them, and it felt soooo, **GOOD!!"**_

_Hinata screamed..._

**"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"**Hinata screamed a scream of pure, raw, intense pain, the kind that tears you apart everywhere.

She fell from the black flames, she bounced off the ground as she landed, she lay twisting on the ground, writhing like a serpent, shrieking like a thousand nails were being driven into her all at once.

She lay twisting, her mind tearing at her, unable to cope with what it had seen. It had seemed so real. She screamed, twisting, as she clawed at her own face blindly, in an attempt to erase what she had seen.

Hiashi walked over to his frantic daughter, she was losing what little she had left. He looked at her in disgust, then his hand shot out, he grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her up against the wall of the arena.

The jolt brought Hinata back, her face was bloody from her attampts to claw herself to blindness, thankfully she had missed her eyes. She was sobbing now, tears pouring down her face, loud, almost psychotic sobs, echoing from her chest, screaming some random thing about_ 'making it go away, please, make it stop!'_, Hiashi snorted in disgust, thenhe smacked her roughly across the face, which caused screams of outrage from the crowd, they were shouting about how he was horrible, and how he should die. Hiashi ignored them, instead staring at a broken Hinata, then he began to tighten his hands grip on her neck, pushing her further into the wall, cutting off her oxygen.

Her eyes began to bulge, her face started to turn purple, from lack air, she began to claw at his hands, however, at this point, she didn't have enough fight left to get his hand off her throat.

She simply gave up, her body going limp, as she stopped fighting, she was broken, nothing was left. She jus held still, waiting for the death that was coming, head down, tears dripping onto Hiashi's hand.

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Whew!! That took more time than I had, sorry it was so short, but I didn't have anytime at all, so I hope you liked what little bit I had! PLEASE REVIEW!! Tell me what I need to do to get better, I need to get better! Thanks! Oh, and sorry about the cliffhanger! (Hopefully it was a cliffhanger, I tried to make it one!)

(Author's Note: I really, really, really have to stop writing after this weekend, unless I find some spare time, but if you review, it'll give me more motivation to write before this weekend, so bye!)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. Yup, I still plan to stay that way.

(Authors Note:I hope you like this chapter, only my e-mail adress is flipping out, so I didn't get the advice someone sent me, telling me how to write a better fight scene, so I'm winging it, and I hope I don't fail miserably. Bye!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

Hinata wasn't moving.

She wasn't moving.

_**Oh God, she wasn't MOVING!**_

Gaara stood staring at Hiashi, such incontrollable fury building in him, that he was ready to explode.

"What's going on!? Why isn't she fighting _back!?"_he said, fear showing on his face.

"That jutsu, it's what's stopping her, she hasn't got enough courage left to fight for her life,"said Neji, his eyes narrowing, hiding the fear in his eyes.

"What!? What was that jutsu, why wouldn't she want to fight!? What's going on!?"demanded Gaara, grabbing Neji by the front of his shirt, and shaking him so hard his neck was liable to snap, before Hanabi spoke up,

"That was a torture jutsu developed by the Hyuga clan in the early days of Kohona, it was used to interogate people, before people began to realize that the jutsu had the power to drive you insane, all the ninja that were interogated ended up killing themselves, so it was outlawed, but every single Hyuga is still required to learn it. The jutsu has the power to make you see, and almost to make you feel, the most horrible things you could never imagine. What happens is all of your worst, deepest fears, are combined and twisted into the most disturbing and unwanted scenarios possible, then it shows them to you, making your own mind your worst enemy. You go insane and you lose your courage, you want to die, just to escape the images, horrible images, of betrayal,death,of the most horrific things you ever saw."

Hanabi finished, looking at Hinata, fear painting her features.

Gaara was still for a full two seconds, still holding the front of Neji's shirt, then he hurled Neji aside as hard as he could, tearing over, clutching the dividing bar, screaming to Hinata,

"HINATA! HINATA! PLEASE, OH GOD PLEASE, FIGHT! I BELIEVE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! PLEASE, _**PLEASE!**_ DO IT FOR ME, FOR OUR DAUGHTER! _**PLEASE!!"**_

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Hinata had given up, waiting for the welcome black oblivion of death. She had nothing left.

Then she heard him, the man she loved, as he screamed into the arena,

"_HINATA! HINATA! PLEASE, OH GOD, PLEASE, FIGHT! I BELIEVE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! PLEASE,__**PLEASE! **__DO IT FOR ME, FOR OUR DAUGHTER! __**PLEASE!!"**_

Something cleared in Hinata, everything came flooding back.

He loved her, for always, he had promised.

She had to fight, she had an little daughter that needed her.

She had a sister, and a cousin and a village full of people who loved and depended on her.

She could not fail them.

She would not fail them.

She could, and _would_ still fight.

And, she could, and _**would **_win.

She reached her hand up, and gripped Hiashi's hand where he was slowly strangling her, she gripped the fingers, and twisted them, twisted them until they snapped.

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Hiashi's eyes widened as Hinata lifted her hand, '_What!? She shouldn't be able to move!'_, then, she snapped his fingers like twigs.

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Gaara's eyes widened with happyness, tears of joy finding there way into his eyes. He quickly brushed them away.

"I love you, way to go!"he shouted down to her,"Thank you!"

She smiled up at him, tears still in her eyes, but with new strength, she was ready to face Hiashi.

She turned back to the battle, quickly activating her Byakugan, she stood, ready, facing him head on.

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From where he sat on the roof, Kiba let out a whoop of joy, leaping in the air and doing a backflip, dancing in place as he landed.

The whole crowd was in an uproar around him, or under him.

Kiba was shouting happily, leaping up and down, grabbing Akamaru's paws and doing a happy dance with him.

He was ecstatic, adrenaline was racing through his blood, then, all of a sudden, a sharp explosion of pain shot across Kiba's chest.

He was immediately driven to his knees, coughing, clutching his chest, panting, wheezing, then he began to cough more blood. Blood spluttered out of his mouth with force now. Akamaru was immediately at his side, nuzzling him, wimpering, no doubt telling Kiba to get help.

"I'm fine,"choked Kiba after a bit, getting the blood under control,"Hey, let me rest up against you."

He sank back onto Akamaru, using his massive form as a support, he held his chest, breathing sharply and shallowly, as he tried to calm his racing heart. He sighed again, leaning his head back, staring at the sky, realizing that he couldn't do that again, and that he had to try to avoid getting too excited, it would only hurt him.

He sighed yet again, casting his eyes out onto the field, watching Hinata taking a stand against Hiashi.

He could only hope she would win.

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"Well Hinata, you're just full of surprises,"said Hiashi, gritting his teeth against the pain in his arm.

"Yes, and here's another one!"shouted Hinata.

She began to whirl her hand into some of the most complex handsigns Hiashi had ever seen, old, ancient handsigns of Suna.

"Shadow Shuriken, Desert Lily Jutsu!" shouted Hinata, completeing the last handsign.

All of a sudden, flower petals began to swirl around the entire arena, not just any flower petals though, the petals of Desert Lillies swirled all around them.

Hiashi watched the petals shrewdly, trying to judge what they were doing, _'what is this jutsu?' _he thought watching the flower petals as the raced in vortex shapes, twisting and writhing, then, they all of a sudden blasted into Hiashi, battering his body.

The petals were bombarding him, except Hiashi wasn't doing anything, except standing there, looking beyond annoyed. The petals weren't painful, they were just annoying.

"What is this Hinata!? Are you trying to lose!? This is no jutsu, merely a child's trick!"shouted Hiashi loudly, brushing the petals away with his arm.

'_Bad idea!' _thought Hinata, smiling, making the final sealing handsign.

Hiashi watched, narrowing his eyes, then, all of a sudden, pain exploded across his body, causing unwanted yelps to spring from his lips, as he attempted to dodge the deadly shuriken flying around him.

Wait, shuriken?

Hiashi leaped into the air, dodging the shuriken, casting his Byakugan over the arena, realizing what had happened. He had underestimated Hinata, she had used the lillies and had turned them into shuriken, while he had been standing there, letting the flower petals hit him.

How _**dare **_she!?

Hiashi became furious, the shuriken racing after him,he growled in fury, then, lifting his hands as the shadow shurikan flew towards him, he shouted,"_MID-AIR ROTATION!"_

A blue orb of chakra exploded around Hiashi, sending the shuriken, flying straight back down, straight towards Hinata, who calmly deflected them, using her chakra blades.

She smiled smugly at Hiashi, whipping the blades of solid chakra around her, deflecting everything Hiashi was throwing at her.

Hiashi became enraged, thinking what he could to forcibly remove her face, then he came up an idea, he smiled sinisterly, eyes glowing with malice.

He began to whip his hands into complex handsigns, forming out the oldest jutsu in the Hyuga line history, then he shouted,

_**"CURSE SEALING OF THE SIDE BRANCH!"**_

Pain exploded across Hinata's whole body, it felt as if someone was purposely trying to melt her brain.

She screamed, falling to her knees, clutching her head as if it were on fire.

The pain was unbearable, flaring across every surface of her body, the pain was stemming from her eyes.

Hinata clutched her head, managing to control the unbearable pain for a split second, long enough for her to check her reflection on the back of her kunai.

She gasped, recognizing the symbol.

A crooked, luminous, green cross, with two curved lines leading up to it.

The curse mark of the Hyuga's.

The one used to bind side branch members.

The one that prevented them from using any jutsu that related to the Byakugan.

On her forehead, blazing like a banner, inviting anyone to kill her.

Hinata's Byakugan was her strongest technique.

Without it, she could not win.

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Well, that's not good. But, I really can't help you if you want more, the weekend's over, and I have got to buckle down and work on my social studies project, so this might be the end until December 18. (And no, I'm not kidding, this isn't a cry for attention, nothing like that, I really can't do a whole lot till my projects done, and I can't decide on a topic, so it might be a while. Sorry!) Hey, I still want reviews though, and I will try to write in my spare time, so it's worth it to check.

(Oh, and I get the feeling no one reads this, because people are still wanting more, even though I've told them repeatedly about my project. So, I wan't to know, do you read this? If so, just tell me in your review, if you decide to review. So, Bye!)


	11. Author's schedule

Disclaimer:Do I really have to write this, all I'm doing is...(_SIGHS_) Alright, I own nothing. I am nothing. Blah, blah, blah...Good enough? Good. Well, moving on...

Alright, now that I know I know how much you all love my story, so I've decided, that project or no project, I need to write, besides I need support to get through this project, so I present...

Azaelia 4328's schedule:

(This is how it works, I am going to **FIND** spare time, and on the following dates, I will post a new chapter, so mark your calendars. This is to prevent you from suffering to much, and to prevent _someone_, from beating,(I hope it's beating, he spelled it eating, and I'm scared!), me with a Mikel Jackson. So, here we go, and don't fret, we'll get through this, you'll see!)

Chapter 11: October 18, 2007

Chapter 12: October 28, 2007

Chapter 13: November 8, 2007

Chapter 14: November 20, 2007

Chapter 15: November 30, 2007

Chapter 16: December 11, 2007

Chapter 17: December 21, 2007

Chapter 18: Oh wait, my projects done by then, so it's a free-for-all. Yay!!

Tell me what you think of the idea of scheduled updates. Oh, and an idea came to me today during algebra, oh how I **HATE** algebra, but moving on, someone told me they liked Gaara's and Hinata's married life, so I was thinking, how about I create a little omnibus for that. Ya know, like a little collection of short stories and oneshots for their life, just in case you wanted to know how stuff happened, like how Gaara proposed, their first date, how _exactly _Hinata threw that teapot. So, what do you think? I was even planning to include a little index or a table of contents, for easier viewing. So, be sure to tell me what you think, Bye!


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am nothing. Of course, I plan to stay that way.

(Authors note: Well, here we go, the first in my scheduled works, I kind of like it, maybe just a little. Hey, this might actually work! Oh, and Happy Update Birthday to one of my favorite reviewers, here's your present, enjoy!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

"THAT _**BASTARD**_!!"shouted Neji, grabbing the dividing bar, gripping as if it were Hiashi's neck in his fingers, instead of cold steel.

"What? What is it? What _is _that symbol!?"asked Gaara alarmed, unable to tear his eyes away from Hinata, where she was trying to control her pain.

"That's the Curse Seal of the Side Branch jutsu, it places the curse seal of the Hyuga's on your forehead. The seal binds you from using large amounts of chakra, or from using the Byakugan." explained Hanabi tearfully, chewing her lip.

"_**WHAT!?**_ The Byakugan's Hinata's best tecnique, she can't win without it!"shouted Gaara, grabbing Hanabi by the front of her shirt, shaking her until she became dazed, then throwing her aside, running to watch Hinata fight for her life.

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"Hmhmmhmmhm..."hummed Sesshiara, skipping along, coming back from the bathroom, not really paying attention to the fighting, when all of a sudden he collided with someone, falling over in the process.

"Ooops, sowwy,"apologized Sesshiara, shaking his head as he tried to stand up, stumbling as he tried.

"It's okay. Here let me help you,"the strange man Sesshy had bumped into helped pull Sesshy to his feet.

Sesshy brushed himself off, examining the man he had run into. The man had green eyes, a very expressionless face, black hair of medium length, reaching to his shoulders, what apeared to be a paintbrush strapped to his back. His black shirt didn't quite reach his pants, leaving his stomache exposed.

The man was studying Sesshy as well, observing his Uchiha symbol on his brand new blue shirt, as well as his very familiar Uchiha visiage.

"Are you perhaps, Sesshiara Uchiha, legacy to the Uchiha line?"asked the man, reacing into his kunai pouch as he spoke.

"Yup, my Daddy's Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha's, 'cept for me."Sesshy replied, grinning.

"Hmmm..."mused the man, pulling a scroll out of his pouch, as well as a small paintbrush,"Does that mean, that perhaps, you know that woman down there, Hinata Hyuga?"

"Yup,"replied Sesshy proudly,"I know Hinawa too, she's Hinada's daughter. She's nice, I like her, me and her are alweady fwiends."

"Oh, well good for you,"replied the man, using the brush to paint strange symbols onto the edge of the scrolls he had pulled out,"Here, I was wondering if you could give these to her, Hinata, in four years time? Okay?"

He extended the scrolls the Sesshy, who looked at them, wondering what they were.

"Ummm, why don' you just give 'em to her?" asked Sesshy, chewing his thumbnail, confusion twisting his features.

"Because,"explained the stranger patiently,"I don't know her. And you do, so can I count on you to give these to her?"

"Oh. Okay!"said Sesshy, his confusion clearing up, reaching out and grabbing the scrolls from the stranger. They were strangely warm under his fingers.

"Oh, hey wait!" he called as the stranger turned to leave,"How will I know when to give 'em to her?"

"You'll know,"replied the stranger, turning and disapearing into the crowd.

Sesshiara was confused, but he simply tucked the scrolls away, quickly forgetting all about them, as he hurried to find his Daddy.

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_"How could he do this to me?!"_thought Hinata, grasping her head.

It was funny, even when she was in so much pain, she could still think clearly, it was as if her thoughts were seperate from the rest of her.

_"What am I going to do?!"_She wondered, then it hit her, she remembered a time when her sister-in-law, Temari, had developed a new jutsu...

_"Hinata! Hinata! Hinata, you'll never guess what! C'mon guess!" exclaimed Temari, racing over and grabbing Hinata into a huge hug._

_"Temari...eghgh...I...can't...breathe..,"gasped Hinata, pushing away from her overly excited sister-in-law._

_"What? Oh, right, Sorry!" exclaimed Temari, dropping Hinata, and helping to brush her off._

_"Now what's so important,"asked Hinata, taking a deep breath, checking to see she still could._

_"Oh well, do you remember the Chunin exams? Ya know, the ones where I fought Shikamaru Nara, and you fought your homicidal cousin?"she blabbered excitedly, practically bouncing._

_"Of course, and Neji's not homicidal, he was just angry,"Hinata defended,"So, what about the exams?"_

_"Well, do you remember how Shikamaru used his shadows to beat me? That shadow jutsu thing? Remember?"she asked, still bouncing._

_"Of course. How could I forget? You NEVER stop talking about how you're gonna go back and kick his ass."sighed Hinata, wishing she'd get on with it. She had better things to do. But listening to Temari talk was always fun, so she didn't mind too much._

_"Well I've finally done it!"she babbled, jumping and doing a backflip._

_"You've beaten Shikamaru Nara?"asked Hinata skeptically, arching an eyebrow, crossing her arms._

_"No, of course not,"huffed Temari, annoyed, coming down off her happy high,"I've finally completed the jutsu I've been developing, so that he can't beat me. Duh!"_

_"Oh. Well then. Forgive me! I'm SO sorry to have offended you! Heaven forbid!"said Hinata, her voice dripping in sarcasm._

_"Hmph. Well then if you don't care, I won't teach you the newest, awesomest jutsu EVER invented!"snapped Temari, turning to leave._

_"Oh alright, Temari, don't go. I'm sorry!"Hinata called after her,"It would be an honor to learn the new jutsu!"_

_"Good!"said Temari, bouncing over, and plopping herself down in front of Hinata, patting the ground across from her._

_Hinata sat down with a sigh,"So, what's this amazing new tecnique?"she asked, shifting into a more comfortable position._

_"Well, the best part about it is that you don't need the Byakugan to use it,"whispered Temari, as if this were some great secret, that no one was allowed to know._

_"Oh, what is it?"asked Hinata, becoming interested, against her better judgement._

_"Well, it goes like this,"said Temari, showing her the handsigns..._

Hinata whipped her eyes open, deactivating her Byakugan as she did so, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees. She was panting as she looked at Hiashi, hatred burning in her lavendar eyes.

He smirked,"Hinata, it would be best for you to quit while you're behind."he smirked condescendingly.

"I don't know HOW to quit,"she gasped, pushing herself up, until she was resting on her knees.

"Oh, and why not?"asked Hiashi, looking as if he were gearing up for a kill.

"Heheh. I don't know,but it is one of the things that drives my husband crazy!"She shouted the last bit, leaping into a mid-air backflip.

Hinata began to whirl her hands into the handsigns Temari had taught her,and began to summon minute amounts of chakra to the edges of her body.

"WHAT! What is she doing?! That seal prevents her from using her Byakugan! How does she plan to win without it?!"shouted Hiashi, leaping into the air as well, getting ready to avoid the coming attack.

Hinata was smiling slyly, getting ready to pull off the snafu of the century.

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From where he was, Gaara's eyes widened as he recognized the jutsu.

He broke out into a huge grin. He knew what she was doing. This would be the end of Hiashi. He, personally, would make sure of that.

He got ready, waiting for the final handsign.

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Hinata completed the final handsign, shouting,"_SECRET SHADOWS,DUPLICATING CIRCUMVENTION!"_

She landed on the ground, just as Hiashi landed.

Nothing happened.

Hiashi looked around wildly, waiting for the coming attack.

Nothing happened.

Hiashi was confused. She had tried to use a jutsu, of that Hiashi was sure.

But still, nothing was happening.

The whole stadium held their breath.

Then, without warning, Hinata's shadow began to change shape, morphing under the sun.

Hiashi gasped, as Hinata's shadow took on a VERY familiar form.

The shape of a tall person, with a strange shape on it's back, swirling liquid, or something, swirling around them, that stuff, it looked like...

Sand.

Gaara.

The Kazekage.

Revered for his strength.

As well as his love for Hinata.

_That_ Gaara.

Uh Oh.

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Ha.Ha.Ha.HA! Whoa look's like it's OVER for Hiashi! (But of course, I'm not that nice, so there's no WAY that this is over! Not by a long shot! So, tune in for my next update!) Please! PLEASE! REVIEW!_** PLEASE! **_ Thank you! If you review, it will give me motivation to write more! Oh, and tell me what I need to do to get better! I need to get better! Bye!

(Oh, and I was wondering if anyone was able to guess who that stranger was. So, if you think you have a guess, please include it in your review! Thanks! Bye!)


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. Please,please, believe me when I say this, I plan to stay that way, I am serious.

(Author's note:Sorry if I confused anyone in that last chapter, Oh, and as far as I can see, only one of you guessed the stranger correctly, so cookies for you! Don't worry, the rest of you will know soon enough. Here it is! Voila! Bye!) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will stand today, Just watch!!

Hinata stood still for a full two seconds, drinking in Hiashi's very apparent fear.

He was quivering, sweat was creeping down his brow, he swallowed, gritting his teeth.

"What kind of trickery is this?"he croaked, trying to sound like he wasn't about to soil himself.

"Tsch,"snorted Hinata, crossing her arms, smiling smugly,"A little scared there, Hiashi?"

The shadow Gaara followed her movements, almost like it was her real shadow.

Hiashi gulped,"You don't scare me with your illusions,"He spat, only it came out as sort of a squeak.

Hinata snorted, uncrossing her arms, lowering her body down into a defensive position, building the chakra into her feet.

Hiashi saw this, he could barely move, his fear was paralyzing him.

Then, without warning, Hinata exploded to the left of him, while the shadow exploded right. They skidded to a stop on either side of him.

Hiashi jerked his head following them, he couldn't decide who to follow, so he picked the one who seemed real.

His eyes followed Hinata, his body turning to face her fully.

She was smiling, whirling her hands into the handsigns for a complicated jutsu, Hiashi braced himself, preparing to use his rotation to ward off coming attacks. But, then without warning, Hinata charged Hiashi, bringing her chakra laced hand forward to crush him, attempting to turn his insides to jelly.

Hiashi was surprised, to say the least. Hinata had never ever preferred frontal attacks, she had always favored the hit and run. She truly had changed, or so it seemed.

She raced forward, slamming her fist forward, except, it missed.

Hiashi hadn't dodged it, it had just missed. She had overshot it, or maybe, she had been trying to miss.

Hiashi couldn't believe his luck. He immediately took advantage of this luck.

He swung around, slamming his fist into Hinata's head.

She flew over backwards, slamming into the ground, front first, bouncing off the ground, rolling to a stop on her side.

Hiashi grinned,'_Ha! She thought she had me with that illusion, but I could see through it!'_he thought as she rolled to a stop.

Then, without warning, she exploded into a puff of sand.

'_WHAT!!How the hell...!'_he thought, then without warning, he felt something grab his ankle, and drag him down...

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Kiba lay on the roof watching the whole thing.

He should have been happy, but instead, he felt terrible.

His chest felt tight, his chest was aching, his head was throbbing, his legs felt too heavy, he was sweating profusely. He felt like he was burning, as sweat poured down his forehead into his eyes, setting them on fire. He didn't flinch, there was no sign that he was even alive at all, except for his eyes, they were shifting around the battlefield, calculating his chances of seeing the rest of this battle.

He didn't think so, not unless it ended soon, and the way it was going, he didn't think so.

He sighed, feeling the pain spike in intensity as he moved his chest, he thought back to the hospital, back to that chart, back to that wake up call that came to late...

_Patient Name:INUZUKA,Kiba---------------------------------------------- Patient #:00983625_

_Date of Admission:5/17/39-------------------------------------------------------- Medical Attendant:Haruno,Sakura_

_Medical History:(See attached sheets)--------------------------------------------Admitted By:Aburame,Shino_

_Connection to patient:Teamate---------------------------------------Symptoms of Admittance:Trouble breathing, Blood loss through _

_mouth, loss of consciousness-------------------------------------------------EmergencyContacts:Inuzuka,Hanna; Inuzuka,Tsume_

_Condition:Patient shows extreme malnutrition, as well as fatigue. Closer examination of patient's chest cavity shows extreme scarring. Patient has tested positive across the board for Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia, as well as Endocarditis. Risk level Myrocardial Infarction has significantly increased. Danger levels have been surpassed. Expectations for expiration has dramatically increased, expected date of expiration is impossible to predict, but patient cannot be expected to last for very much longer without aggressive treatment. Treatment is currently unlikely to show any levels of success. In professional medical opinion, patient is currently unable to recover._

_Suspected Causes(If Any):The patient is not genetically inclined towards these specific diseases, in professional medical opinion, patients' extreme disregard for physical health has contributed towards these diseases. Specifically, large amounts of energy enhancement, specifically, Food Pills, has contributed hugely towards heart distress. Irreversible damage is suspected, in professional opinion, patient has efficiently caused their own demise. There is no clear treatment options at this point._

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Hiashi felt himself being dragged down.

'_What the hell is this!?'_he thought as he was forcibly slammed into the ground.

He tried to move, but found himself unable to. He kicked trying to get free, he was being held by some kind of invisible force.

He turned his head and his eyes widened, horror writing across his face.

He was being forcibly held by, none other, than that shadow illusion, Gaara.

Hiashi realized that this was no illusion, this was in fact real.

His blood ran cold.

"A little tied up there, Hiashi?" said a cold voice.

Hiashi jerked his head around,"What the hell...?!"he began to shout, before the person before him cut him off.

"Shut up."said the person curtly, standing directly in front of him, arms crossed,eyes narrowed.

Hiashi felt as if some invisible force was glueing his jaws shut. He couldn't even scream.

Hinata smiled almost evilly,"That's better,"she said,"Now I suppose you want to know how I survived that last little stunt of yours? Well, it's quite simple really, I wasn't really there. Those handsigns you saw? Those were the handsigns of creating sand clones and a seamless replacement, so while it looked like it was me, I was really underground, watching,waiting, knowing that if I screwed up, you'd be so desperate to win, that you'd fall for such a simple trap. I knew that when I missed, there was no way you'd let me get away from you, you would attack. And you did. You attacked my sand clone, and in the process, you activated my secret shadow. And of course I know you're wondering what that jutsu really is. Well, the Secret Shadows,Duplicating Circumvention, is a jutsu designed towards assistance. Basically, to use this jutsu, you select five people, you obtain samples of their blood, and then you perform a ritual, in this ritual you sacrifice the blood, and then, whenever you use this jutsu, you are asking for help, and then, the jutsu remembers the blood you sacrificed, and then, of those five people, one is randomly selected, and then some the essence of their soul is extracted, literally,then it is projected on top of your shadow, changing the shadows appearance to match the appearance of the person selected. The person who's soul essence you extracted doesn't have control of the shadows that are projected, but depending on who you picked, what the shadows do is exactly what the person _would_ do. So, when some of Gaara's soul essence was extracted and projected over my shadow, it was like he was fighting with me.All the things the shadow Gaara does is exactly what the real Gaara would do if he were in this situation. So, when you attacked my sand clone, the shadow couldn't tell the difference between me and the clone, so, he basically came to my defense. He trapped you so that you couldn't hurt me anymore and so that I could finish you. And I think I will."

Hiashi stared at her, disbelief written all over his face, he was stunned.

"But...But...You can't do _that!"_he spluttered, disbelief painting his face,"This is a battle between us! You can't get help! That's _cheating!"_

"Hardly,"snorted Hinata,rolling her eyes,"That jutsu doesn't _summon_ people, it just uses their soul essence. So, technically, it's not cheating."

Hiashi narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth. He knew he was beaten. Completely beaten, all the way around.

Hinata was smirking.

From behind his back, Hiashi swore he could hear that shadow chuckling as well.

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From where he was, Gaara was smiling widely, relief evident on his face. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He reached over and picked Hinara up, he cuddled her, mumbling nonsense words of happiness to her, tickling her stomach, smiling even more widely as she giggled.

He walked over to the guard rail, holding Hinara closely, letting her see Hinata.

Hinara giggled, reaching towards Hinata, babbling happily, reaching out, her hands grasping reflexively.

"It won't be long now, then we can go see Mama,"Gaara whispered happily to her.

"Mama,gaggggaa,MamaMamaMamaguggggg..."gurgled Hinara, still reaching towards Hinata.

Gaara's eyes widened, he turned her around, looking at her,"Did you just say 'Mama',"he asked, disbelief, awe, wonder, and joy painting his features.

Hinara giggled, burying her face into his shirt, grabbing onto the soft material.

"Your first word,"whispered Gaara in disbelief, then he hugged her as tightly as he could, without crushing her,"Hinata's going to be so happy! I can't wait to tell her!"

"Mamaaaaa..."cooed Hinara into Gaara's shirt, before promptly drifting off to sleep, confident in knowing she was safe and loved.

Gaara turned back to where Hinata had just finished her explanation of what the shadow jutsu was. Gaara smiled even more, if that were even possible, knowing that, before too long, he would have both 'His Girls' in his arms again.

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Awwww!!!! That was cute! But I'm still not done yet! Nope, there's still more to come! And there's a twist! So, tune in for my next update! Thank you for all the feedback, oh, and a minor revision from the author's note on the top, two people guessed who the stranger was, so cookies for both of you!! Thanks again! Bye!

(Oh, and I was wondering, I was planning a special commemoration chapter for all of my wonderful reviewers, so I was wondering, could I use your screen names, you know, like mine is Azaelia4328, so if I have your permission, could you include it in your review? Thanks! Well, Bye!)


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. I can and will ultimately plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note:Thank You to all the wonderful people who reviewed and gave me permission to use their names! I am very honored to be able to commemorate all of you! So, here we go, the first person who I wish to commemorate is ShadWolf, thank you for all your support and for keeping me laughing! I love your wolf-like attitude! Secondly, to SasukeHinataLover, I don't care who you support, you have kept me happy on my bad days, I love the irony of your name, thank you for coming over the GaaraxHinata side! Thirdly, Megomi, your name has stumped me and kept my mind stimulated, so thank you for that! And, lastly, to (I hope I spell this right!) hieissoulmate5by5, Your attitude, along with your advice has helped me get better, so a **HUGE** thanks! Bye!)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will stand today,Just watch!!

Hiashi's mind was leaping all over, searching desperately for a way out.

He _could_ not die here, he _**would**_ not die here!

He thought over every jutsu he knew, even the ones he hadn't ever used before flew through his mind.

Then, a memory, faded and old, rose like a ghost into his mind...

_"Ha, you missed Hiashi, you can't beat me!"a high, girlish voice squealed._

_Hiashi gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes, anger rising towards the girl who stood before him._

_She had long, thick reddish hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a mischievous smile playing around her mouth. Her seven year old innocentness was shining through clearly._

_"Shut Up!"snarled Hiashi, trying to break free from her chakra controlled ropes._

_The girl giggled, unable to suppress it at the ridiculous position her friend was in. _

_She loved to humiliate the Hyuga heir, it was just too much fun. He seemed to think he was entitled to win in sparring, yet he routinely lost to her._

_She burst out into full fledged laughter, her whole body shaking. She was the picture of beauty when she laughed, and Hiashi never failed to notice this._

_But today, he was too angry with her to care._

_He all of a sudden lost his temper, he stopped yanking on the ropes that bound him._

_He activated his Byakugan, then, not even realizing what he was doing, he slammed both of his hands into the ground, and nearly blew his arms off._

_All of a sudden, the girl stopped laughing, as she realized, she was in danger, but it was too late._

_The girl was blasted straight up into the air, her body curving over backwards into a perfect arc, she looked so perfect, almost suspended in air._

_Then, she slammed into the ground, a sickening snap alerting everyone to her plight._

_Hiashi felt the tight ropes,all of a sudden, go limp._

_Dead, unmoving. _

_Hiashi didn't even know ropes could feel so dead._

_Dead._

_Just like her._

_She was dead, unmoving, blood trickling from the back of her neck._

_Hiashi got shakily to his feet. He walked slowly to his friend._

_Her eyes were empty, the last remnants of laughter, the realization, the surprise, covered her blood covered face._

_Hiashi dropped to his knees next to her, reached out, touched her soft red hair._

_"You shouldn't have tried to beat me, you should have known I would win..."whispered Hiashi quietly, as he stroked her cheek..._

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Hinata watched Hiashi curiously, he seemed lost.

"_What could he be thinking_,"thought Hinata,"_What could make him look like a lost child...?"_

Then his eyes cleared, but now he seemed to be having an internal debate, a conflict that was eating at him.

Hinata was still wondering, but she didn't have time for this, she needed to see Gaara, so she called,"Hey Hiashi, this isn't time to be remembering your first kiss, even if you are about to die!"

Hiashi's eyes blazed up in an instant, burning all the conflict away, he didn't have to debate anymore.

He jerked one of his arms free from the Gaara shadow, and before the shadow could get him again, he activated his Byakugan.

Then, he slammed his hand onto the ground, and then he almost blew his arm off, for the second time in his life.

Hinata, who didn't have her Byakugan, didn't see what he did, but she did see how his arm snapped back with enough force to break it.

She narrowed her eyes, thinking, "_What's he up to..."_

She didn't have much time to think it over however, she was blasted straight off her feet, straight up, her back curving over into a perfect arc,

"_What the hell, what happened..."_thought Hinata, just as she felt consciousness slipping away, lights dancing before her eyes...

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"WHAT THE HELL!!"shouted Hanabi, terror masking her face, disbelief coloring it as well.

Gaara didn't yell, he couldn't, he was holding a baby.

But he wanted to scream, wanted to shout in disbelief, wanted to let Hiashi know that he was a DEAD man.

But he kept silent, his whole body shaking from uncontrolled fury, loathing and fear.

Neji was stunned as well, but he was silent.

Gaara knew that Hinata was losing consciousness, he could see it in her eyes. He handed Hinara to Neji, mumbling some incoherent thing about taking care of Hinara. Then he clutched onto the guard rail watching hopelessly as Hinata fell, even though he wasn't holding a baby, no sound escaped his lips.

None.

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Hinata was in a sea of black, black nothingness.

Then from the black, hollow, nothingness, she heard a voice, a voice that was calling her.

She knew the voice, she started towards it, gaining speed as her desire to reach her destination increased.

She saw a bright, white light, in the direction she was going. A small voice told her to turn back, but she pushed ahead, directly into the light.

There was a blinding flash, then she found herself in an abyss of white nothingness. It felt warm, safe, comforting.

She looked around for the source of the voice.

Then, she saw a figure approaching her, a familiar figure, one that had haunted her dreams as a small girl, one that she had ached for.

Her throat was dry, she couldn't believe it as the figure drew nearer.

Hinata looked straight into the figure's eyes, as the figure paused directly opposite her.

"Hello Hinata."said the figure.

"Hello Mother."choked Hinata.

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Hiashi looked at Hinata.

She lay perfectly still, she wasn't even breathing.

He panted, standing shakily, the shadow was gone, it had disappeared the minute Hinata had hit the ground, almost as if it knew it's master were dead.

Hiashi walked over to Hinata, dropping to his knees next to her, he reached over, cradling her head, he tilted her head back, checking her pulse, making sure she was really dead. Her eyes stared at him blankly, empty, just like the ones, so many years before.

Hiashi gently brushed them closed, laying her back gently, as he said,"You should have known, no matter what you did, you've never been able to beat me, you could never have hoped to stand alone against me, you've never been able to stand on your own two feet, that is why you lost. You should have just gone home. Goodbye Hinata..."

He stood, turned, and walked slowly towards the exit.

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Gaara felt an overwhelming emptiness overtake him.

It crushed him, his heart felt like someone had just taken a knife and hacked his heart into little pieces.

He couldn't even process, he couldn't even believe it, gone, she was gone...

He sank to his knees, he heard a strange sound, like an animal screaming as it was tortured, then he realized the sound was coming from him, from his mouth.

He was screaming uncontrollably, his heart was twisting, wrenching, shredding into a million little pieces, he was sobbing hysterically.

The unbreakable, the undefeatable, the unshakable Kazekage.

The lord of the sand.

The king of the desert.

He was broken, right then and there, his whole world was crashing around him.

Sand was swirling, thrashing, twisting into grotesque shapes, as if it were breaking as well.

"_Hinata...Hinata...Hinata...HINATA!!!!!"_screamed Gaara's mind.

He fell down onto his hands and knees, sobbing, tears pouring down his face, heart breaking sounds of misery and pain echoing from his lips.

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Well, I don't think you saw _**that **_coming!! I told you, a twist!! Well, I'm gonna get a lot of flames, so before you do, remember, I like **HAPPY** endings, so this might not be the end, but you'll have to tune in for the next update. Hope the suspense doesn't kill you!

(Oh, and if you want me to dedicate a chapter to you, like I did the others, just tell me and give me your permission to use your pen name in a commemoration. Well, I hope I don't get too many flames! Bye!)


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. And according to my sister, I never will be anything.**No** _really!_?I plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note:Many of you thought I wasn't capable of killing off Hinata. Well, you're probably wrong. I am capable of many things, including character death! Ha! But seriously, I hope none of my wonderful reviewers died from the suspense. I hope you like this chapter! Bye!)

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I will stand today,Just watch!!

_'What did you just do!? You killed her! Do you realize that!? She was your daughter!! How could you!?'_Hiashi's mind was in a raging battle against itself.

Half of him was glad that this hellish experience was over, and that Hinata, the disgrace, was finally dead.

The other half was losing it. This was the half that was good, more like a fourth really, but it was the half that was the father in him. This was the half that had fallen in love with Hinata and Hanabi's mother, the half that had killed Hinata's would-be kidnapper, the one who wanted a part of Hinata's new life, the part that wanted to know his granddaughter.

It was this part of him that was neglected.

He completely denied it's existence most of the time.

It had lain dormant for a while, but killing his daughter had awoken it, and this part of him, it was out for blood.

'_I'm disgusted in you!! What would Hanaka say!? What would she think!?'_

'_**SHUT UP!!'**_snarled Hiashi in his head, trying to silence the painful memories that were surfacing.

_Hanaka..._

_His beautiful Hanaka..._

_She had died too young..._

_Never even able to know her second daughter..._

_Never able to raise her first daughter into a confident young woman..._

_Hanaka dying from blood loss through childbirth..._

Hiashi gritted his teeth at the painful memories that had lain dormant for too long.

Emotions that threatened to rip him apart, if he let them.

He could hear that boy, Gaara, his daughter's husband, he was screaming.

Hiashi felt an emotion he had never before experienced, he realized what he had just done.

He had just destroyed a very powerful man by taking the thing that he most cared about.

He had just orphaned an innocent child.

He had just killed his daughter.

With all of these realizations, he felt an entirely new set of emotions rise in him.

Hiashi was trying as hard as he could to block them, to return to the time before this.

The time when he hadn't killed his daughter, when he hadn't unburied a box of demons from his past.

Just then Hiashi heard a collective gasp from the crowd.

He turned around and saw...

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A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER...

Gaara was broken.

Absolutely broken.

He was sobbing, clawing blindly at anything he could reach, desperate to break something, or someone.

"Gaara..._look.."_said Hanabi in a hushed, stunned whisper.

Gaara barely managed to lift his head, and follow her hand with her eyes.

He looked down into the arena, prepared to see Hinata lying dead.

He gasped.

He leaped forward, grasping the guard rail with all his strength.

"_HINATA..."_he whispered chokingly.

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A FEW MINUTES BEFORE...

Kiba was stunned.

Hinata...was dead?

Dead?

Hinata?

Kiba couldn't even process what was going, he didn't even feel his chest throbbing.

She couldn't be dead.

Not after everything, not after he'd already lost her once.

She was gone.

Akamaru was staring down into the arena, eyes wide.

Akamaru shifted his gaze to Kiba, whimpering, licking Kiba's face.

Kiba stood shakily, stepping forward.

He looked prepared to jump down from the roof and shred Hiashi into a thousand pieces.

Then, his whole chest exploded into blinding pain.

Kiba fell over, he knew it was the end of the line for him.

He felt such intense pain.

Screams ripped from his throat like razor blades.

He couldn't even feel anything besides a blinding pain in his chest.

He felt his lungs filling with his own blood.

"_Please...God...please...I...need..to..see..the..end..of..this...,"_Kiba thought desperately, clutching his chest, reaching out towards Akamaru.

He saw black inching in on his vision.

He fell into the deep black abyss.

He managed to catch sight of one thing before he was engulfed by the abyss.

A beautiful, startled young woman with black silken hair and lavender eyes.

She watched him with shock as he crossed the border into death and she crossed out of it.

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Hiashi turned and saw...

"You...You...w..were...r..r..right,...Hiashi...I could'nt...stand before...never...on...my..own, not without help...but now..."a raspy voice sounded out, reaching Hiashi's ears, sending ice chills down his spine, he turned and saw...her.

Hinata.

Alive.

Sitting up, looking at him, lavender eyes burning with determination.

Hiashi gaped.

Hinata was panting hard, but she managed to say,"I never could stand alone before,...But now?..." she took a deep breath, bracing herself,"I will stand today, JUST WATCH!!"

She leaped to her feet, and charged forward with all of her strength.

"_This...this..isn't possible!!"_screamed Hiashi's mind, right before she slammed her fist into his stomach.

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Hinata charged forward, and slammed her fist into Hiashi's stomach.

He flipped over backwards completely, landing on his frontside.

Hinata stood over him, panting hard, blood trickling down her mouth.

Hiashi pushed himself up slowly, testing his chakra.

She had completely blocked all of his chakra.

He fell over backwards, landing in the perfect position for Hinata to slice him to bits.

She built up all the chakra in her hand, making it into a blade.

She raised her chakra blade slowly over her head, readying to kill him.

Then, she remembered back...

_"Hello Hinata."said the figure._

_"Hello Mother."choked Hinata._

_The figure regarded her curiously, noting her streaming eyes and tear streaked face._

_"What's wrong my little one? Aren't you happy with the way things happened?"asked Hanaka Hyuuga._

_"No."choked Hinata, staggering forward and falling into her mother's embrace._

_Hanaka held her sobbing daughter, shushing her,"There, there...it's okay...I'm here now..no need to worry.."_

_"No, it's not okay Mother! My daughter! My husband! Who's supposed to look after them?! I wasn't supposed to die yet, I'm only twenty-three!!"she sobbed hysterically, clutching at her mother._

_Hanaka was stunned, she pulled Hinata back and looked at her,"Twenty-three? You mean you're only twenty-three?!"she asked, amazed._

_"Yes,"choked Hinata, wiping her face,"I only just got married three years ago. My daughter's only eight months old."_

_"Eight months!? You've only been married for three years!?"Hanaka asked, amazed, looking at her, terror on her face._

_"Y..yes,"stuttered Hinata, wiping more tears away._

_"YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!!" said Hanaka angrily, shaking Hinata's shoulders,"You can't leave your family now!!"_

_"B..b..but there's nothing I can DO!!"said Hinata fiercely,"I didn't want to leave my family!!"_

_"Well then, you need to leave, NOW!! If you don't, you'll never be able to leave!!"said Hanaka hastily, turning her, and pointing her in the direction she had come._

_She began to push Hinata forward._

_"But...but...I want to ask you some things!"said Hinata, not quite ready to leave._

_"What could you possibly need to know that you haven't already figured out?!"asked Hanaka exasperatedly, pushing her even more._

_"Why did you marry Hiashi?!"asked Hinata hastily, still trying to avoid leaving her mother just yet._

_Hanaka froze._

_Without Hanaka pushing her, Hinata fell over._

_"Why...why do you ask?"asked Hanaka, her face very pale._

_"Because,"said Hinata angrily,"He was the one who killed me!!"_

_Hanaka smiled gently,"Yes...yes...I had anticipated that..."_

_She sighed and turned away, then she turned around again,"Hinata, have you ever heard the expression, 'Love is blind'?"_

_Hinata nodded, confused._

_"Well, that's the way it was for me. I knew Hiashi could be dangerous. Everyone did, but I loved him anyway. Hinata, I want you to know something, your father never layed a hand on me. He loved me, he truly loved me. I know that right now it seems like he is a beast, but somewhere underneath it all, he truly loves you. I know how you feel, there were times where even I questioned him, but he always proved his love. If given the chance, I know he can prove it again."_

_Hinata looked at her mother, and was surprised._

_She had just realized, she looked like her mother._

_Hanaka smiled, as if she knew what Hinata was thinking._

_"You and I are very alike Hinata. Both strong, impulsive, headstrong, and we both have a tendency to pick men that most women would call...risky. But we both know, don't we? We know that they're ours, both of them. Hiashi was my one true love, and your true love is Gaara. I hope you raise your daughter with all the love and affection you can, and remember, to occasionally give that husband of yours a smack, especially if he's late for dinner, or if he forgets your anniversary."_

_Hinata nodded to her mother, giving her a hopeful smile,"I will..."she said, before turning and running towards the black abyss._

_She was ready to face the rest of her life._

_Life._

_The life she intended to spend with the man truly loved, and the her little girl. The one's that she needed just as much as they needed her._

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Well, was that the best plot twist EVER!! Well, I hope you liked it!! But, I'm not done yet, not by a ways, so keep tuning in!! Well, I wanted to wish all of my fabulous reviewers a Happy Thanksgiving!! Well, please review!! Bye!!

(Oh, and I know there was a bit of inconsistency in that chapter, but I really wanted something cute in there,especially after what happened to Kiba. I really want reviews, I have so much homework, so I really need encouragement!! Please, I want at least ten reviews, if that isn't asking to much! Well, Bye!!)


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. Uhhhhh...I really _do _plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note:Wow! I got a lot more than ten reviews! I'm so happy! Oh, and I really hope you like this chapter, but I don't think this story will be as long as I originally thought it would be, so when it's over, I'll make sure to let you know where you can go to read my next Gaara and Hinata story. Well, Bye!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

Hinata stared at Hiashi, thinking for a very long time.

Hiashi stared back at Hinata, thinking of the best way he could escape.

He knew Hinata was going to kill him.

Hinata raised her chakra blade higher over her head, preparing for the kill.

Then her face clouded slightly, there seemed to be some doubt in her eyes.

Hiashi watched her and knew this was his chance.

Hinata was deep in thought, caught up in a memory.

Hiashi knew he couldn't waste this chance, he slowly moved into position, making sure she didn't notice.

Finally, her eyes cleared.

Hiashi noticed she looked a little bit uncertain about her next actions.

He took advantage of her uncertainty, he quickly used his ankles to slam into her legs, using a daring and underhanded sweep kick.

Hinata flew down to the ground, her body colliding with her chakra blade, slicing her side wide open, giving Hiashi just enough time to yank his legs free and race away, attempting to escape.

Hinata shrieked in pain, blood began to spew from her side, and the crowd began to scream and throw things at Hiashi.

'_Well, at least they're on my side,'_thought Hinata, right before the pain bit in with a ferocious intensity, causing more screams to erupt from her lips.

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Kiba felt himself falling farther and farther into the black abyss, heading towards a light.

He tried to stop, but felt weighted, he couldn't move away.

The light grew closer and closer, Kiba screamed and closed his eyes, as he was forcibly slammed into a wall of solid light.

He expected pain to blind him yet again, but no pain came, instead, he felt peace finally overtake him.

A warm, glowing, healthiness seemed to overtake him, washing away all of his pain, both the physical and emotional, it all washed away, leaving him feeling, finally, at peace.

He opened his eyes, casting his gaze around this new, unfamiliar place.

He caught sight of another person, a woman, who looked vaguely familiar.

She had lilac eyes, silky ebony hair, and she wore a slightly surprised expression.

She regarded him curiously, staring at him.

Kiba stared back.

He stood and walked slowly towards her.

She watched him, still slightly surprised anyone had come through while she was here.

Kiba paused, realizing for the first time there was absolutely no pain, just a warmth all around him.

He looked down at himself, and was amazed.

He was wearing the same clothes he'd been wearing before he arrived, but they were distinctly different. The regulation white medical cotton shorts and t-shirt looked better than ever, they didn't hang off his body like before. He could actually see healthy flesh underneath his shirt, the clothes also seemed to give off a kind of glow.

Then, he noticed the hands he was using to inspect the clothing, the hands had no scars on them, none.

Kiba gasped, putting his hands directly up to his eyes, inspecting them closer.

There was not a single scar in sight.

He gasped again, inspecting his arms as well, again, not a scar in sight, the same was true for his legs.

The only thing he saw anywhere was clean, innocent, glowing, healthy, unmarked flesh.

"Something wrong?"asked the beautiful young woman, watching him in confusion.

"Huh...? Oh, no, I'm alright...it's just...I could have sworn...I had some scars..."answered Kiba in amazement, inspecting his arms again, flexing his newly re-fleshed muscles.

The woman smiled, clearly amused," You wouldn't have any scars here, they all disappear, everything is restored, innocence of spirit and of flesh, everything."she explained.

Kiba's eyes widened,"Really?"he asked, amazed, reaching up to touch his face, feeling the lack of scars, and the fullness of flesh.

"Do you have one of these?"asked the woman pulling a small silver amulet that hung from a delicate silver chain from her kimono. She held it forward.

Kiba hesitantly took the disc, and examined it.

It was a perfect, slightly elongated circle, it glowed with its' own inner light. It gleamed and twinkled merrily in his hand.

Kiba examined it closer,and saw, written in simple, but beautiful lettering, a name.

Kiba read the name,'**HANAKA HYUUGA**'.

"Hyuuga...Hyuuga...Are you related to Hinata!?"asked Kiba amazed, looking up at her, gaping.

"Yes, Hinata is my daughter. Do you know her? Who are you? What's your name?"she asked, taking her amulet back.

Kiba was about to answer, then, he had a premonition, he, reached down his shirt, searching for something he was sure wouldn't be there.

He wasn't completely amazed, but pleasently surprised, when his fingers hit warm metal, he pulled out his own amulet.

He marveled at it's simplistic beauty, watching it as it twirled in his fingers.

He then looked closer at it, and saw his own name, inscribed into it,'**KIBA INUZUKA**'.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka,"Kiba informed Hanaka.

She smiled,"Well then, Kiba Inuzuka, let's go, tengoku is just a step away."

She smiled even more and took ahold of Kiba's hand, she turned and led him up and away.

Kiba wasn't afraid of anything anymore, after all, paradise was just a step away...

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Sasuke was regretting ever bringing Sesshiara to this ridiculous fight.

Sesshiara was too young, and too sensitive to be here.

When Hinata had been struck down and they thought she was dead, Sesshiara had started bawling.

It had taken Sasuke ten minutes to get him to stop, even after Hinata came back to life.

Sasuke wished he could go home right now, but Sesshiara was too absorbed in the fight, he wouldn't leave without a fight of his own.

Sasuke was sure Sesshy only wanted to stay so that after the fight was over, he could go see Hinara again.

Sesshy already seemed to have taken a liking to her, he had already proclaimed the night before, just as he was getting ready for his bath, that he and Hinara would be best friends when they grew up.

When they grew up...

The thought terrified Sasuke.

The future, and how it would turn out.

Sasuke was positive that Sesshy would choose to be a ninja, and then what?

Sesshy was Sasuke's whole world, and Sasuke knew from firsthand experience how dangerous the life of a ninja was.

Not only the physical damage that could occur, but how would a sensitive, overly-optimistic, trusting boy react when he saw the carnage of battle.

When he saw the true cruelty of people, and of how they could destroy each other, and when he saw how much blood the human body has to bleed before the flame of life finally splutters out.

Sasuke didn't want his little boy to turn into one of those hardened, uncaring, win-at-all-costs people.

He knew it was a very real possibility though, and he was terrified.

He didn't think he could lose another member of his family, least of all his own little boy.

He was absorbed in his own thoughts, when he felt a tug on his pants.

"Hmmmm?"said Sasuke, looking down at his son.

Sesshy had an anxious look on his face, and was dancing in place, he bit his lip as he said,"Daddy, Daddy, I gotta go!!!!"

Sasuke stared blankly at him for a second, before realizing what he meant,"Oh, right. Sorry! Here, c'mon, let me take you."he said, scooping Sesshy up, and headed towards the bathroom.

The future could wait, right now, Sasuke had to focus on being a father to his son.

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Akamaru sniffed Kiba's body, licking Kiba's face.

It was pointless, and Akamaru knew it.

Kiba was dead.

A piece of Akamaru died as well.

He threw his head back and howled in agonizing pain and broken, bitter loss.

He howled as loud as he possibly could, wanting to let everyone know that Kiba Inuzuka, one of the greatest ninja Akamaru had ever known was dead.

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Hinata was bleeding profusely, blood poured from her right side, pain was numbing her mind.

Then, through the pain, Hinata heard a loud howling sound.

She looked in the direction the sound the howling was coming from, without her Byakugan she couldn't tell what the thing was that was howling.

She squinted, peering even closer, she was just able to make out a large animal.

The animal seemed familiar. Then Hinata realized that the giant, distant, howling animal was Akamaru.

"Akamaru!"shouted Hinata in surprise, amazed, why was Akamaru here?

Akamaru stopped howling, he fixed his eyes on her.

Hinata's mind began to scroll through the possibilities of why Akamaru would be here. Then, she realized, she couldn't see Kiba anywhere.

"Akamaru, where's Kiba!? What's happened!? Is he dead!?"shouted Hinata desperately, taking a step in Akamaru's direction.

Akamaru hung his head sadly, then he threw his head back an howled as loud as he could. The pain and sadness in that howl was blinding.

The realization came to Hinata slowly, Kiba was dead.

Unbelievable sadness overtook her, she felt as if the ground were opening up beneath her and drowning her in sorrow.

Even though her heart was cracking in sadness, Hinata could not produce a single tear, all that came was blinding fury.

Through all the pain and sadnessand uncontrollable fury, a stark, blinding, naked truth began to surface from the bottom most caverns of her mind.

Kiba was dead, and it was her fault.

'_**NO, this isn't my fault!!'**_Hinata's mind screamed.

This was Hiashi's fault.

He was the one who'd driven her out of the village.

He was the one who'd kept her away from the village, and from preventing Kiba's death.

He was the one who'd thought she wasn't important.

He was the one who'd _convinced_ her that she was useless.

He was the one to blame for Kiba's death.

He was the one who was going to die.

She would make sure of that.

She turned to face Hiashi, one thing in the fore front of her mind.

This was the field where Hiashi would die!

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Whoa!! I smell revenge! Big time! Well, I really don't know what should happen next, ummmm...anyone got any suggestions? I hope that you liked that chapter! I've got so much homework, so any motivation is welcome. Reviews? Please? I'd also be grateful for any advice anyone has. Please read and review! Well, Bye!

(Also, I really, really want ten reviews. Is it too much to ask for ten reviews? Also, anyone have any ideas for my next story, the collection of oneshots about Gaara and Hinata's life? I really want some ideas! Oh, and thank all of you who reviewed my last chapter! Well, Bye!)


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. I will, can, and _should,_ always plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note:Thanks you wonderful reviewers for all of your support, and all of the wonderful suggestions that I've been given. This chapter is a bit out of the ordinary, and it isn't like my usual stuff. Thanks again! Well, Bye.)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

Gaara watched Hinata in absolute terror and pain. He didn't know how much longer he could take this.

Hinata and Hinara were his whole world and he could feel his grips slipping on both of them.

Hinata was bleeding massively from her side and Gaara was sure one of her major organs had been struck by the chakra blade and he was terrified she was bleeding to death.

Hinara was right next to him, and she wasn't in danger, but Gaara felt as if a huge chasm was opening between him and his daughter.

He knew that if Hinata died, he'd have to raise Hinara by himself, and he was sure he couldn't do it alone. And if Hinata died, how would Hinara deal when she got old enough to understand what'd happened to her mother.

Gaara knew that once she understood, she'd hate him for just standing by and watching as Hinata was killed. He knew that she would never be able comprehend the full power of the promise scroll.

Gaara also realized, as he watched Hinata, he realized just how very little he knew about his daughter.

He didn't know her favorite color.

He didn't know her favorite song.

He didn't know her great-grandmother's name.

He realized that even though he loved Hinara more than air, and even though she was right next to him, she was slipping through his fingers, and he couldn't figure how to hold on.

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Kiba looked around the paradise he'd emerged into.

Beauty and peace surrounded him.

He was looking around in awe, when he felt something grab him from behind and nearly crush his ghostly spine in a bear hug.

"KIBA, my boy!! How've you been!?"cried an overly excited, deep alto from behind him.

Kiba managed to wriggle free and looked at the man who stood before him.

He had dark brown hair, red claw markings on his cheeks, a wide, handsome smile, and bright green eyes.

"DAD!!"shouted Kiba in excitement, launching himself at the man, clutching him tightly.

"Kiba, my boy, I've missed you so much!"said Kiba's father, hugging Kiba tightly.

When they finally released the hug, Kiba looked his father up and down. He looked exactly the same as the last time Kiba had seen him.

Then Kiba heard a sound, and turned to see his grandmother standing behind him, with two dogs.

"NUMAAAA!!!"shouted Kiba happily, leaping and throwing his arms around his grandmother, who hugged him tightly.

The two dogs next to her barked in excitement, licking Kiba's legs and feet, the only parts of him the could reach.

After all of the re-introductions were over, and Kiba had kind of explained why Akamaru wasn't with him, Kiba's father was telling Kiba about what'd happened to him during the mission he'd been killed, and Kiba was petting his father's dog, Shakiamaru.

While they were all asking about Hanna and Tsume, a pure white fox with two tails and a bright red, twelve tipped star adorning its' forehead came and brought a scroll for Kiba.

Kiba took the scroll, and patted the foxes head, while he unrolled the scroll.

He read the message to himself and was surprised at what it said.

"I have to do what..."asked Kiba, right before he felt his stomach drop out, and felt himself headed back towards the black, empty, cold abyss.

Kiba began to scream hysterically, fighting to stay in the light, but all in vain, he still fell into the empty coldness.

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Hinata turned to face Hiashi with fury in her eyes, hatred burning scars through her sweet, innocent soul like black, ugly, twisted, evil flames.

Her eyes began to burn with such a furious intensity., that if looks could kill, Hiashi would be dead.

She didn't even care that she was bleeding, the only thing that she cared about was getting ahold of Hiashi and killing him.

But simply killing him was letting him off easy.

She wanted to make him suffer.

She wanted to grab him by the neck and slam his head into ground repeatedly.

She wanted to make him feel the pain in his heart that she was feeling.

She was going to break his bones one by one.

She was going to slice up every single piece of skin she could find.

She was going to cut all of his fingers, one by one.

She was going to make him beg and plead for his life.

She was going to humiliate him.

She was going to make him sorry!

She began to walk slowly towards him, knowing he wouldn't escape.

She slowly pulled out a kunai, and, reaching down with her other hand, she built up her chakra, and pressed it to her side wound, healing it completely.

Hiashi had no chance.

None.

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Sasuke was walking back to his seat, carrying a sleeping Sesshiara.

Sesshiara had fallen asleep almost as soon as Sasuke had picked him up to carry him back to their seats.

Sasuke glanced at the fight as he passed the guard rail, and froze.

He stared at Hinata, and felt horror and terror flood him.

He watched the way she walked, the way she moved and he knew.

She had always been fighting to kill, but now, it was different.

Her purpose, her motivation, her soul itself, had changed.

He could see, in the way she moved, she was filled with a burning, all consuming hatred.

Sasuke knew that kind of hatred well, it was the kind he'd once held for his brother.

He knew that that kind of hatred could kill you, your body and soul.

He knew what it had done to him, he'd betrayed his home, his friends, the only family he'd had.

He knew what it could do to someone sweet, innocent, pure and loving like Hinata.

He knew that even if she did manage to kill Hiashi, the hatred would still be there, and it would slowly destroy her.

What would happen to her daughter?

What about Gaara?

Sasuke knew that this could be the destruction of all them, and it terrified him.

He held Sesshiara closer, and began to pray desperately,

_Please, anybody,_

_Please help Hinata overcome,_

_For the sake of her family,_

_Please spare her the pain the comes with hatred!_

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Kiba exploded out of the darkness, and he slammed into the border between life and death.

He exploded back into the world of the living with such force that screams tore through his whole body, shattering into a million pieces as the ghostly screams collided with the harsh reality that was the world of the living.

Instead of emerging back in his own body though, Kiba felt different, the world seemed sharp and clear around him, but when he looked down, he saw his own outline was blurry, fuzzy, and transparent.

He was amazed even more when he realized that no one could see him.

He was standing in the arena again, near the guard rail.

He then saw, Sasuke, standing there, holding onto his son, his head slightly bowed, and Kiba was amazed when he heard Sasuke's voice, but didn't see his mouth moving.

Kiba realized that Sasuke was praying, and somehow he could hear him praying.

Sasuke was asking for Hinata to be spared the pain of hatred.

The pain of hatred?

Kiba didn't understand,Hinata wasn't capable of hatred, was she?

He looked back down at the fight and watched Hinata, waiting for his 'mission' to become apparent, because right now he couldn't tell what was wrong.

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Hinata stalked up to Hiashi, who was panting, barely on his feet, but not ready to die.

Hinata smirked darkly as his legs quivered, trying to support him.

She took an offensive stance, and then, with out warning, she rocketed forward, and slammed his ankles out from under him.

Hiashi didn't even have time to hit the ground, when Hinata used a super charged kick directly into his stomach, sending him flying twenty feet into the air before he plummeted to the ground.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud, the sound caused Hinata to burst out laughing.

Her laughter was devoid of joy, it was a scornful, mirthless, sinister laugh of sadistic happiness.

The laugh of someone who drew pleasure from the pain of others.

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Gaara saw the way Hinata was laughing.

The laugh sent chills down his spine, and struck actual terror into his heart.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

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Kiba also saw Hinata.

He realized Sasuke was right.

Hinata had been consumed by hatred.

Her soul, Kiba could see, had turned black.

This was wrong.

All wrong.

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Hinata stopped laughing suddenly, her face going from happy to a look of loathing.

She built up her chakra again, creating another chakra blade.

She walked slowly and deliberately over to Hiashi, raising the blade slowly above her head as she did so.

Hiashi managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees and looked over at Hinata, terror painting itself vibrantly across his face.

Hinata continued walking over, and stopped in front of him, a look of superiority and uncaring written on her face.

Hiashi fell over backwards, looking at her cruel face, "Please...please...I'm sorry...please...I surrender...I don't want to die..."choked Hiashi in a whisper, tears leaking out of his eyes, terror absolutely consuming him.

"I don't care,"said Hinata indifferently, raising her blade high above her head, the kill all consuming in her mind, her hatred the only thing in her soul...

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Please don't hate me!!! I'm really, really, really, really sorry!! I'll understand anyone who gives me flames!! I'll take them with no complaints!! Also, I hope you will be kind enough to review, I would be beyond pleased, and I know I don't deserve it! Well, Bye!

(Also, I know I'm horrible, and I don't deserve it, but I desperately want ten reviews, is that too much to ask? I beg of you!! Please!! Also, I was wondering, who was everyone's favorite original character in this story? So if you could include your answer in your review, I'd be beyond honored. Thank You!! Well, Bye!!)


	18. Author's Apology

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. Blah, blah, blah, blah...

Hi everybody!

I just wanted to apologize from the bottom of my heart about my being late on the update, I just got so caught up in other things!

My sister was just diagnosed with seriously crippling mental disorder, and she's been kind of pissed off lately, so she's been on the computer for hours at a time and I wasn't able to get a turn that was long enough to write an entire chapter.

Not to mention that this was crunch week, the week before Christmas break.

I had to hand in my really hard social studies project, the one I told you about, and I had to present it to a room full of parents.

I had to take my math GDE, and the I had to take and then _retake_ my chapter 5.3 math test, then to top it off my math teacher gave me homework over Christmas break.

I also had to pass a Greek and Latin test so I could remain in differentiated English, I had to hand in my book report over The Great Gatsby, and then I had to read an Agatha Christie book.

I had to take a health test over nutrition and then grade it. Yuk.

Then, my science teacher gave us an super hard science test on Wednesday, and then a CRT the next day.

I have a French project I need to complete over break, and I still haven't done my Christmas shopping, and I have to help my grandmother bake Christmas candy, so I've had the most jam packed schedule ever, so as you can see, I had no time.

I want to make sure that the final chapter in this story is the quality you've come to expect, so I hope you understand.

No doubt I could have typed something, but it would have sucked, all for the sake of updating on time.

I'd not only be cheating myself, but my amazing readers as well, and I can't do that, I hope you can understand!!

I'm super sorry and I hope you don't hate me!!!

Please I beg you, could you please return on December 24, Christmas Eve, I know, but that's the only time I could find. If you come back then, you can check out my next and final chapter, also, I want to make up my lateness to you, so I should have my next story started by then, and all you have to do is click on my profile, scroll down, and it should be there, I hope you like it!!

Again, please, please, please forgive me, I'm a really horrible person and I don't deserve readers but I am desperately sorry and I apologize again and again, so if you could, could you please forgive me?

It's Christmas after all, and isn't Christmas about giving, so could you **PLEASE **find it in your heart to forgive me?

Well, Bye!!

Sincerely,

Azaelia4328


	19. Chapter 17, part one

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. And even after writing an entire story, I _still_ plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note: Ok, I just wanted to let all of my faithful reviewers and readers know, this should be the last chapter of this story. But I promise it's not the end of Gaara and Hinata, so look out for my next story! Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally figured out how to make a profile, so I have all kinds of things written, if you get the chance go check it out. Well, Bye!)

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I will stand today, Just watch!!

Kiba saw immediately what was going on.

Hinata truly had lost her soul to hatred, and it was consuming her.

She was about to kill Hiashi for no reason other than for pure pleasure.

Kiba knew he couldn't let her do it, for if she did, it would solidify her hatred and the evil in her soul would never leave.

She would become one of those people that parents told their children about when they were trying to scare them.

She would become a real, live human demon, killing anything that got within killing range, hating everyone and everything.

She would be destroyed by her hate.

Kiba knew, he couldn't let that happen.

She had a daughter, a husband, they needed her, and no matter how much it hurt Kiba, he knew what he needed to do.

He knew, he had to save her.

Save her from herself.

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Gaara watched Hinata raise her hand, and felt a true stab of fear grip his heart.

He knew if she killed Hiashi now, there was no going back, and that she would never turn back from that point.

She'd had enough of turning back to face her past.

She would never turn back again, never go back to the way things were.

He had to stop her, for her own sake.

He knew what he should do, he saw his chance as she raised her blade higher, "Hinata, Hinata!! Don't do it, don't kill him!!"shouted Gaara as loud as he could.

She turned her head and looked at him with those fearsome, hate filled eyes.

And Gaara knew.

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**JUST A MOMENT EARLIER...**

Kiba was trying to figure out what he was going to stop Hinata from killing Hiashi, after all, he had no visible form and no one could hear or see him, so he couldn't decide what to do, when he had something like a premonition, only stronger, and much fiercer.

Kiba, without even registering or realizing his movements, raced forward at an inhuman speed, raced straight through the dividing bar, and leaped forward, arms outstretched, soaring forward, straight into the arena.

He flew farther than he ever would have been able to if he was still alive, and he landed lightly on his toes, right behind Hinata.

Just as he landed and registered what had happened, he heard a shout,

"_Hinata, Hinata!! Don't do it, don't kill him!!!" _shouted Gaara, as loud as he could, pleading with Hinata.

_**"Right, that's probably all she needed, she'll snap out of it."**_Thought Kiba, relieved that someone besides himself had realized Hinata's drastic change.

Then, it was all shattered.

Everything.

Both Kiba's and Gaara's perceptions of the sweet, shy, loving Hyuuga, they were shattered.

Shattered with only a few words from her sweet, cursed lips.

"Shut up Gaara!! Stay out of things that don't concern you!! Don't you know when to back off?!?! **GO AWAY**!!"snarled Hinata with every ounce of viciousness and hatred she could possessed.

Shattered.

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Those words that she had spoken, they couldn't have been real.

Could they?

Gaara gaped at the woman he loved, the woman he'd thought had loved him.

When Hinata had died, Gaara had felt as if he was living in a waking, endless nightmare, he'd felt as if he was broken completely in half, as if he'd had his soul ripped out. He'd thought, right then, that no other pain in the world could compare to the pain he'd felt at that moment.

He'd been wrong.

Those words, those horrible, scathing, piercing words of pure hatred, they'd been aimed at him.

She'd as much as told him that she hated him with those words.

Gaara felt a feeling that he'd felt only once before in his life, a feeling that had helped to make him the demon he'd been before Hinata had come along and saved him.

The feeling of utter, complete and total, betrayal.

Gaara had been betrayed before, but only by those he hadn't counted as friends.

The only time Gaara could ever remember being betrayed like this, where it had hurt this bad, was when he'd been betrayed by Yashamaru.

This pain was worse though, it was ripping through parts of his soul he never even knew he had. It shredded it's way through parts of his soul that he thought he'd locked away safely forever.

He was completely blindsided by the pain. He'd never realized just how far Hinata's influence had sunk into his soul, he'd never realized just how much of his sanity, his soul, his life itself, had relied on Hinata's love, and now it was gone.

And he couldn't handle it.

He couldn't survive without her love.

And through the torturing, agonizing pain, only one solution came to his demented mind, so he took a step forward, and then another.

And then, another, and another, and the edge was ahead.

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Hinata had just been about to kill Hiashi, when that irksome boy, Gaara, had interfered.

She'd had her blade raised high when he'd shouted to her, begging her not to kill Hiashi.

"_Who does he think he is? Telling me not to kill Hiashi?"_ thought Hinata savagely, and then, deciding to silence to Gaara, she'd shouted at him, telling him to shut up, and to stay out of her way.

Of course, somewhere in Hinata's hate filled mind, she remembered that she was married to Gaara, and that she loved him. But the hate had been too strong, it had overpowered her love for Gaara.

She turned her attention back to Hiashi, re-creating the chakra blade for a third time, this time determined to extinguish Hiashi's life, determined to make him sorry for what he'd done to Kiba.

"_This one's for Kiba!!"_ Hinata's mind shouted, as she raised it up high, and then in one fluid motion brought the blade down with a schwiick, and then, a thud.

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Kiba was stunned beyond comprehension when Hinata spoke to Gaara.

What was going on, what was she doing?

Kiba felt a sudden strong, ominous feeling overtake him as Hinata finished her speech. The feeling was coming from that boy, Gaara.

Kiba stared up at him, trying to decipher the look on his face, the thoughts that raced through his mind, trying to determine what Gaara was going to do.

Then, without warning, Kiba heard words resounding in head, just like when Sasuke had been praying, only, this was different, this sounded more like a hate filled claim to the heavens, rather than a prayer.

"_**This one's for Kiba!!"**_

Kiba whirled, just in time to see Hinata slam her blade down, straight towards Hiashi's head.

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Hiashi was filled with such terror that he was unable to move away from the blade as it headed straight for him.

And in his terror, he saw his whole life flashing before his eyes.

He saw the day he'd killed his best friend.

He saw the day he first met Hanaka.

He saw the day he married Hanaka.

He saw the day his sweet, innocent daughter Hinata was born.

He saw the day Hanaka had died, and felt the horrific pain pierce his soul again.

He saw the day that man had tried to kidnap his sweet, innocent daughter, and he felt the same terror that he'd felt then, when he thought he'd lose her.

He saw the day when his younger brother had sacrificed himself for Hiashi.

Hiashi realized, as he was about to die, that he'd lived almost his whole life being afraid to take risks, afraid of change, afraid of being weak, and that it was these fears that made him weak, not his daughter.

He realized that he'd been a fool, and that if he ever got out of this, if by some miracle he survived, he would change.

He would accept his daughter, he would admit that he was a fool, he would beg her for the chance to know his granddaughter.

If he ever got out of this.

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In the split second in which Kiba realized what was going on, he knew he had to stop her.

Then, without realizing what he was doing, Kiba plunged both of his ghostly hands into Hinata's back, and began to force thoughts into his head, and then through his hands.

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**A MOMENT BEFORE...**

Hinata felt her blade whistling through the air, and knew that the blade would fly true.

Without a doubt, Hiashi would die, and she was glad.

Or was she?

Then, in the split instant before the blade connected, Hinata felt thoughts that were not her own seep into her head, purifying her soul

"_Hinata, Hinata, Hiashi isn't the reason I died!! It was my own fault, my own carelessness and stupidity that killed me, not Hiashi!!"_

The voice that was resounding in Hinata's head, she recognized it, it was Kiba.

"_**Kiba!!"**_ thought Hinata desperately, then, realizing what he'd said, realizing what she was doing, what she'd done, she'd allowed hatred to consume her, she realized right then and there that she couldn't kill Hiashi.

In the mere fraction of a second, she had, she jerked her hand slightly to the right, then, a thud.

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Hiashi shut his eyes tight, knowing he was about to die.

But death didn't come.

He felt a vicious gust of air race by his right ear, and slam into the ground next to him with a resounding thud, then he heard a softer, swish, and soft thud.

He waited.

Nothing.

He cracked his eyes open slightly, making sure he wasn't dead.

He wasn't.

He was amazed, he turned and looked to his left, and felt his breath catch, there was a huge, gaping gash in the ground next to him. It was more than five inches deep and at least twenty feet long.

He looked up at Hinata, who was still standing over him.

He was stunned as he looked at her.

There was no smirk, no smile, only a look of complete and utter fear.

"Hinata..."Hiashi managed to croak, his voice shaking.

She cast her fear filled, lost looking eyes on him, "I...I almost...almost killed you..." she whispered shakily, her voice filled with fear.

"Yes." said Hiashi, his voice still shaking.

"I...I...I don't know what came over me..."whispered Hinata, casting her eyes down, ashamed.

"I understand."said Hiashi, his voice no longer shaking,"Hinata, I...I was wondering...could you ever forgive me?"

Hinata looked up, amazement painting its way across her face, "I...I...What?" she asked, confusion flashing in her eyes.

"I should not have banished you, I should have not acted the way I did, you did not deserve to have me as a father, I am sorry."said Hiashi, true regret in his voice.

Hinata looked into his eyes, doubt still present in her mind. She looked deep into his eyes, and found true sincerity.

"I...I forgive you."said Hinata, smiling slightly at him, "Could you ever forgive me?"

"I already forgave you,"said Hiashi, smiling at her, happy, for the first time in a long time.

"Thank you,"said Hinata, also smiling shyly.

She reached down, and extended her hand for Hiashi to take.

He looked at it for a moment, before he reached forward and gripped her hand, and let her help him to his feet.

He smiled widely at her, as the breeze tickled his neck.

Wait, the breeze on his neck?

Hiashi's eyes widened as he reached back and felt his neck, his long hair was now gone.

"What..."asked Hiashi, alarmed, reaching for hair that wasn't there, then he looked down, and saw his hair.

It lay pathetically on the ground, cropped off by a chakra blade.

"Hinata..."began Hiashi, stunned, but then he was cut off.

**"GAARA!!"**screamed Hinata in absolute terror, looking to the left of Hiashi's shoulder.

Hiashi whirled, looking towards where Hinata was looking, and saw...

Gaara.

He was standing on top of the dividing bar, ready to jump.

Ready to jump at over seventy-five feet, a jump no one could survive.

No one.

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Ok, I know I promised that this would be the last chapter, but it was way too long, so I had to split it up into segments. I'm posting them at the same time, because I know that no one would be able to survive the cliff hanger I just left you with, so don't worry!! Also, even though this is a segment of a larger whole, could I please get some reviews, please? Well, Bye!!

(Also, I really would just love it if I could please have ten reviews. Please? Pretty please? I also wanted to thank everybody who stuck with me even after I missed the update date, so thanks!! Also, I was wondering, what is everyone's favorite chapter so far? If you want to answer, just leave your answer in your review. Thanks again!! Well, Bye!!)


	20. Chapter 17, part two

Disclaimer:I own nothing. I am nothing. And even after writing an entire story, I _still_ plan to stay that way.

(Author's Note: Okay peoples, part two is here and ready to roll!! I just wanted to give a huge shout out to all of you who've stuck with me from day one, and who've supported me in my writing, and I hope I do you all justice with this final chapter!! Be on the look out for my next story called, 101 Ways to Forever!! Well, Bye!!)

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I will stand toady, Just watch!!

Gaara stood on the railing, looking down the ground, ready to welcome the embrace of death.

He had nothing left, he could give no more.

He could live no more, not without her, not without Hinata.

He felt heat build behind his eyes, and he felt the tears begin to flow down his face.

He heard Hinata shout his name.

"_She probably just wants to tell me that she hates me..."_thought Gaara dismally.

He should have known it was too good to be true, she'd been too good to be true.

But no, he'd let his love blind him, he'd opened his heart to her, and she'd taken it and smashed it.

But he still loved her, loved her with the little broken bits of his heart.

"_I'm so pathetic, I can't leave her, not even now..."_thought Gaara to himself.

He was doomed, he knew it, he could never stop loving her.

Never.

He knew that he could piece his heart back together, and still, he would give his heart to her, and then, she would break it again.

He knew that no matter what she did, he could put his heart back together, but that he would always give it back to her, and she would break it again.

He couldn't live like that, he knew he had to end it.

So he let go, and jumped.

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Hinata felt her whole world stop in the instant that Gaara jumped.

She felt her whole world disappear in that moment, swept away like a puff of smoke.

All of it, everything she'd ever wanted, everything she'd ever worked to build, it all vanished in the moment he jumped.

She saw him fall as if in slow motion, his arms looked as if they were floating beside his body as he fell, his legs were in a suspended animation, and straight.

She saw the grotesque twisting of his body as it fell through air, his body ready to smash into the ground and spill his precious red blood like water from a stream.

She felt the slice of pure fear and complete helplessness overtake her as she felt rooted to her spot. Her arms felt like lead, she felt the bile begin to rise in her throat as she tried to move, she could not move an inch to save him as he fell, farther and farther, faster and faster.

And in that instant, her world ceased to exist.

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**A MOMENT EARLIER...**

Hiashi turned and saw, Gaara, standing on the dividing bar, ready to jump to his death.

The instant Hiashi saw Gaara, his mind immediately leaped to one absolute conclusion.

Hinata would not be able survive without Gaara by her side.

Hiashi knew that he could not lose his daughter, not now.

Now was a new beginning, now was not the time for sorrow.

Hiashi knew in that moment what he had to do.

And then Gaara jumped.

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Hinata stood completely frozen, small whimpers coming from the back of her throat as she watched Gaara plummet to his death.

The feelings of helplessness and despair were crushing her and there was nothing she could do.

She sank to her knees in utter despair, tears pouring out of her eyes, then she screamed.

And she kept screaming.

Screaming in absolute horror as she watched the only man she could ever love fall.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a streak of red.

It raced past her, racing forward at an almost inhuman speed, it stopped for a split second, right before launching itself high into the air.

In the split second where the thing stopped, Hinata realized with a jolt, that the red streak was Hiashi.

Hiashi launched himself into the air right beneath where Gaara was falling, and Hinata realized, Hiashi was going to save Gaara.

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A full second after Gaara jumped, Hiashi realized what he had to do.

He raced forward, past Hinata, and launched himself into the air beneath Gaara, and attempted to catch Gaara.

There was a problem however, Hiashi realized, Gaara didn't want to be caught.

Hiashi tried grabbing ahold of Gaara, but Gaara kicked him in the shoulder.

"Damn!!"muttured Hiashi angrily.

He realized that he couldn't just grab on to Gaara, he'd knock some sense into him first.

Hiashi channeled the last little bit of chakra he had, and pushed it all to his feet. Chakra exploded out of his feet, blasting him upwards, until he was even with Gaara's head.

Hiashi gritted his teeth and smacked Gaara as hard as he could across the face.

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Kiba saw Hiashi run towards Gaara.

Kiba saw Hiashi strike Gaara.

He knew what would happen when Hiashi landed with Gaara, if they did land.

Kiba knew what he had to do.

He pushed himself to his feet, and then he jumped forward, plunged his ghostly hands into Hinata's head and back.

And Kiba, without even understanding what he was doing, he forced his own thoughts into her head, forcing her to stand, then he let fate take its course.

The rest of what would happen was up to Hinata.

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Hiashi waited less than a second to see if Gaara would kick him again, then he grabbed Gaara's arm, and pulled Gaara towards him as they fell.

Then, Hiashi used the wall of the arena as a brace as he used his feet like brakes, placing both of them on the wall as they were falling, attempting to slow their fall.

Hiashi glanced up as they were plummeting, and saw Hinata racing towards them.

He looked at Gaara in his arms, "_I have to keep him safe, for Hinata's sake..."_thought Hiashi grimly, keeping a firm grip on Gaara.

Then, they landed.

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The landing was mostly just Hiashi colliding with the ground, and Gaara toppling out of Hiashi's arms.

Hiashi lay still after landing, but everyone could tell he was alive by the amount of swearing he was doing.

Gaara lay on the ground for a second before he rolled over and pushed himself to his feet.

Gaara had barely stood up before he was attacked.

He was bowled over completely as Hinata finally reached him and tackled him to the ground and began alternating between kissing every inch of him she could find, and punching him in the stomach.

"You stupid idiot!!What the _hell _were you thinking?!?!?!?"shouted Hinata at Gaara, kissing him in between every word,"You could have been killed!!!"

"I...I...I thought you didn't love me anymore!!"choked Gaara, fighting for air against the tirade of kisses.

"Didn't love you anymore!?!?!"said Hinata, so astonished that she stopped attacking him.

"I...I...uh...,"began Gaara, but he was cut off as Hinata burst into tears.

"What's wrong?!?!"asked Gaara, alarmed by her sudden change of behavior.

"I...I...could've lost you!!"choked Hinata, clinging to his chest, tears staining his shirt.

Gaara didn't know what to do, so he simply wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

And as he lay there savoring everything about being able to touch her, he realized even more that he loved everything about her. He loved the silkiness of her hair, the softness of her skin, her familiar scent of roses, and the way her heart felt as it was beating next to his own, the way she loved to take three hour baths, the way she hated getting up in the mornings on weekends, the way her bottom lip stuck out when she got angry, he loved it all.

Everything was forgotten then and there, almost as if the battle had never occurred.

All that mattered now was that they were together, and that they were safe in each other's arms.

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Kiba sat and watched the whole thing, and rather than be disappointed that it wasn't him Hinata was racing to, he was happy.

He was happy that Hinata had someone who would love her forever and a day, and cherish her just as long.

He was also happy that Hinata had healed her relationship with her father, and that she had everything she could ever want.

Kiba knew that today was a day when Hinata's world would begin again, only this time, she had a loving family and a husband and daughter at her side.

Kiba grinned, "Yup, that should be just about perfect."said Kiba to himself, as he stood and turned away, his ghostly self already headed back through the black abyss, towards tengoku.

Right before he vanished and was engulfed in blackness, he glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of Akamaru standing next to Hinata. Akamaru was looking straight at him, and Kiba felt sure that Akamaru could see him.

Kiba grinned at him and waved,"Bye, for now..."said Kiba, right before he disappeared into the abyss.

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**FOUR YEARS LATER...**

A young boy sat perched on a large toad statue in front of the gates of Konoha village.

He'd been sitting on the head of the statue since five o'clock that morning, and he hadn't moved so much as an inch.

He completely ignored all the hundreds of people who were spilling in and out of the village. Peddlers, and traders, vendors, acrobats, jugglers, musicians, ninja of all kinds showing off jutsus and demonstrating their power, and hundreds of people waving small flags and banners, he ignored them all.

A few people had called out to him but he hadn't even acknowledged that he'd heard them. He kept his eyes focused dead ahead on the road that led away from the village, he was waiting for something.

All of a sudden a blast of hot wind swept through, and a huge vortex comprised of sand formed almost directly in front of him, and out of the vortex stepped the youngest Kazekage in history, along with his family.

"HINARA!!"shouted the young boy excitedly.

"SESSHIARA!!"shouted the little girl who was holding the hand of the Kazekage.

She pulled her hand away from her father, and promptly launched herself at Sesshiara, managing to slam into him, knocking them both off of the toad statue.

They lay both lay on the ground holding their stomaches as they laughed happily.

"Hey, you'll never guess what,"whispered Sesshiara pushing himself into a sitting position, and whispering a secret into Hinara's ear.

Hinara's eyes widened,"Really!?"she squealed, clapping her hands.

"Yup, only, he's not s'pposed to know about it, so you can't tell him,"said Sesshiara solemnly, nodding as he spoke.

"Oh okay, I won't tell him, cross my heart,"said Hinara making a large X over her heart, and nodding solemnly.

"C'mon, let's go, we gotta get our festival masks,"said Sesshiara, standing up and dragging Hinara to her feet.

"Now you two be careful,"warned Gaara while trying to hold onto a squirming baby that had bright red hair and aquamarine eyes.

"Okay, we'll be careful, promise,"promised Sesshiara, reaching forward to pat the little baby's head,"See ya' later Kibakaru!"he said to the baby. The baby, Kibakaru, giggled happily.

Hinata smiled as she reached over and took the squirming red head from his father. The baby giggled, tugging on Hinata's long hair.

"Have fun you two,"said Hinata with a smile,"but don't forget to remember what Remembrance Day is about."

"Of course not,"said Hinara,"Remembrance Day is the day where all the ninja in Suna and Konoha gather to remember and honor all the people who have died."

Sesshiara nodded in agreement, right before grabbing her hand, and running towards the gates of the village, dragging her with him.

"Bye Mommy, bye Daddy, bye bye Kibakaru,"she called as she and Sesshy raced through the gates.

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**SEVERAL HOURS LATER...**

Sesshiara and Hinara sat side by side on the lowest balcony on the Hokage's tower, whispering excitedly, and sharing a bowl of ramen between them.

"When do you think they'll start,"whispered Sesshiara, his mouth full of noodles.

"I dunno, soon I hope,"whispered Hinara, clinging to the stuffed panda bear Sesshiara had won in a kunaii throwing contest earlier in the day.

"Yeah, this is always the best part, when they..."began Sesshiara, but he was cut off by a huge explosion in the sky above him.

Both children looked towards the sky in awe as hundreds more explosions rocked the sky above them, bathing them in red, green, blue, and yellow light.

Hinara gasped at the splendor of the fireworks in the sky,"They're amazing,"she whispered in awe.

Sesshiara nodded in agreement, gaze fastened on the sky.

"Wow..."whispered Hinara, letting her head fall to rest on Sesshiara's shoulder.

"Yup, they sure are amazing.."said Sesshiara softly, letting his hand rest softly on top of Hinara's.

And overhead in the starry sky, explosions of all colors drenched the sky.

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One balcony above Sesshy and Hinara, Gaara and Hinata sat together watching the barrage of lights in the sky.

Hinata's head was resting on Gaara's shoulder, and Gaara's arm was wrapped around her.

They watched the fireworks in silence, savoring the feeling of being together on the beautiful night, savoring the feeling of having someone that they loved more than anything else, someone they loved so much it hurt, savoring the feeling of knowing that today was a day in the making of the rest of their lives.

"I love you,"whispered Hinata to Gaara, burying her face in his shirt.

"I love you too,"whispered Gaara back, nuzzling his face into her hair, pulling her closer, holding her tightly.

And in the sultry night, fireworks soaked the sky in brilliant colors.

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Kiba sat on the roof of the tower, watching the blasts of fireworks as they stained the sky with color.

He smiled secretly to himself as the fireworks exploded.

Everything was perfect in the world right then, and it was time for him to leave.

Kiba smiled happily, as he stood and stretched his ghostly muscles.

He smiled once more as he turned and headed back through the black abyss, towards the light at the end of the journey.

He paused once, and glanced back over his shoulder, and then he turned and walked straight through the abyss.

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Akamaru lay and watched the strange lights in the sky.

He had been living with Hinata and her family for four years now, and still the pain of losing Kiba stabbed at him, but things were changing.

He had a new family who loved him.

He had a new life where he could be happy.

Akamaru knew he could survive, and he would _live_, he'd found something worth living for, and that was love.

The love for family, the love for another, the love for life itself.

_"After all,"_reasoned Akamaru,_"what could be more important than love..."_

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Well, we've reached the end, so what did you think? I'd really love for you to tell me! I really hope you liked it, sorry the chapter was so long, and really sorry if it wasn't the ending you were expecting. Also, I think I might've forgotten to answer questions in the story, so make sure to check out my next story, 101 Ways to Forever, and it should take care of any questions you have. Well, Bye!!

(Also, I worked really hard on these chapters, so could I please have 15 reviews this time? Please? Oh, and I just wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me to the end! Also, I was wondering, what was everyone's favorite moment in the story? Well, thanks again, and have a Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate!), and Goodbye!!)


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